21st Century Fox Confirms Bid For Time Warner, Says It's Not In Discussions

The New York Times reported this morning that Murdoch made an $80 billion offer and is “determined” to buy Time Warner.

Rick Wilking / Reuters

Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox made an $80 billion bid for Time Warner, the company that controls HBO, CNN, the Warner Bros. studio and the Turner cable businesses, according to The New York Times . Time Warner's board rejected the bid in what Andrew Ross Sorkin of the Times described as a "terse" letter. News Corp chief operating officer Chase Carey first approached Time Warner chief executive officer Jeff Bewkes in June, Sorkin reported, and the bid was $85-a-share.

21 Century Fox said in a statement this morning "we made a formal proposal to Time Warner last month to combine the two companies. The Time Warner Board of Directors declined to pursue our proposal. We are not currently in any discussions with Time Warner."

But the two companies not being in active discussions does not preclude a hostile bid for the company.

The proposed deal, which Murdoch is reportedly "determined" to make, would create a broadcasting and media behemoth, combining movie studios, cable channels, and the Fox network under one roof. The most awkward potential combination would be CNN with its rival Fox News, but Sorkin wrote that Murdoch "would sell CNN to head off potential antitrust concerns since Fox News competes directly with CNN."

It would also be a signature deal for the 83 year old Murdoch and a large step towards the consolidation of the media and broadcasting industry as it looks to stand on more equal terms with cable giants like Comcast, which is also looking to win regulatory approval of its acquisition of Time Warner Cable.

Time Warner also recently completed its own spinoff of the Time Inc magazine business, making it a pure-play broadcasting and movie company that would be a more natural fit for 21st Century Fox, which itself split from Murdoch's publishing businesses that are now housed in News Corp.

Time Warner's shares are up 17% in pre-market trading to $83, just two dollars below the price that Time Warner turned down.

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