By Jordan Zakarin The Wrap.com July 16, 2014
APThe high-stakes bid would have created a media mega-empire
Rupert Murdoch is big game hunting again.
21st Century Fox in June submitted an $80 billion takeover bid of rival media giant Time Warner, only to have the offer rejected.
“21st Century Fox can confirm that we made a formal proposal to Time Warner last month to combine the two companies,” the company said in a statement. “The Time Warner Board of Directors declined to pursue our proposal. We are not currently in any discussions with Time Warner.”
According to the New York Times, the offer would have equated to $85 in stock and cash for each Time Warner share, which was a 25 percent premium on the company’s then-stock price. The purchase would have been paid for in 60 percent stock and 40 percent cash; part of the problem with the deal, from Time Warner’s perspective, was that the shares came without voting power in the two-tiered Fox corporation, which is controlled by the Murdoch family.
The deal would have created a megapower that included film studios Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox; Fox TV networks and Time Warner’s TNT and TBS, as well as both companies’ rights to major sports broadcasts, including basketball, baseball, and football.
