Weather Channel said to hire banks to explore sale: Bloomberg

(Reuters) - The owners of the Weather Channel have hired Morgan Stanley and PJT Partners Inc to explore a sale, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The Weather Co, which began weighing a sale last year, is considering selling only its digital business, which has a much higher value than the cable network, the people told Bloomberg. The businesses are valued by the owners at more than $3 billion today, with most of that tied to the digital operations, according to the report. An investor group led by NBCUniversal and private equity firms Bain Capital and the Blackstone Group took The Weather Channel private for $3.5 billion in 2008. The Weather Co's digital businesses include The Weather Channel's website, Weather.com, Weather Underground and Weather Services International. Weather Channel could be sold to another cable network operator, while the weather data could be acquired separately by a technology company, Bloomberg reported. Weather Co could not be immediately reached for comment. A Blackstone representative declined to comment, while a representative for Bain did not immediately reply to a request for comment. (Reporting by Neha Dimri in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)