Discovery and Scripps in deal for at least $90 Viacom bid falls short

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John Colaneri, Anthony Carrino, Sunny Anderson, Kenneth W. Lowe, Katie Lee, Andrew Zimmern and guests of Scripps Networks Interactive ring the NASDAQ Opening Bell at NASDAQ on June 2, 2016 in New York City.

Discovery Communications and Scripps Networks Interactive have agreed to combine in a deal for at least $90 a share after Viacom failed to prevail with an all-cash bid, sources tell CNBC.

Scripps had earlier decided Discovery’s bid was superior to that of Viacom’s, the sources said. Discovery, operator of the TLC and Animal Planet channels, entered exclusive negotiations with Scripps to finalize a deal in the next few days, the sources said.

Scripps operates lifestyle channels such as HGTV and Food Network. At $90 a share, the deal would be roughly $11.7 billion based on Scripps’ share count. Earlier, sources told CNBC that the family behind Scripps was looking for at least 50 percent cash in the deal.

Scripps shares jumped 2.8 percent on Thursday, while Discovery shares are down 2 percent and Viacom shares are up 4 percent.