Why Microsoft Should Acquire Netflix
Producer
To Jim Cramer, Netflix appears more and more attractive as a takeover target, especially for a company like Microsoft.
Of course, Netflix might seem like an unusual takeover candidate, especially since it was the S&P 500's best-performing stock during the first quarter, up 104.4 percent at $189.28. The stock has been in decline lately, though, falling nearly 4 percent on Wednesday to $169.74 a share.
But why would Microsoft want to buy Netflix?
"Here's a company that suffers from not being social enough, not being mobile enough, and certainly under CEO Steve Ballmer … not being cool enough," Cramer said on CNBC's "Mad Money." "Microsoft would, in one fell swoop, change all of that by spending $13 billion to buy Netflix."
Critics have questioned Netflix's ability to keep writing large checks to Hollywood TV and movie studios for content, but Cramer argued Microsoft's deep pockets would allow it to fund such efforts while refinancing the "bloated balance sheet at bargain basement levels."
Microsoft would also be able to integrate Netflix with its other products, Cramer said, such as installing a Netflix button on all TV clickers, which would load Microsoft games, along with Skype. As it stands, 27 million homes play Xbox.
The deal would also bring Reed Hastings to Microsoft, the "visionary" CEO of Netflix, Cramer said.
"Of course, this is all hypothetical. Nobody has expressed one iota of interest in buying Netflix," Cramer said. "But let's face it, if Microsoft wants its groove back — that is, if it ever had a groove — then a $220 bid for Netflix would instantly make that happen."
— Reuters contributed to this report
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