21st Century Fox confirmed a report that it made an offer to acquire Time Warner, but the media company said the offer was rejected and that there are no talks in progress.
"21st Century Fox can confirm that we made a formal proposal to Time Warner last month to combine the two companies," Fox 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."
Rupert Murdoch-led Fox made an unsolicited offer of $80 billion for Time Warner within the past few week, but the overture was turned down, the New York Times reported earlier Wednesday.
The combination of Fox with Time Warner -- an entity that would have annual revenue of about $65 billion -- would create a media powerhouse. It would bring under one roof assets that include movie studios 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. and a portfolio of top-tier cable networks, including Fox News and FX, and Time Warner's HBO, TNT and TBS, as well as Fox Broadcasting and its sports networks and each company's international businesses.
A Time Warner rep did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Despite being rebuffed, Murdoch is "determined" to buy Time Warner and "is unlikely to walk away," the New York Times reported, citing anonymous sources involved in the talks.
Big media companies have been exploring mergers and acquisitions, in part to boost their leverage as large pay-TV operators combine. Comcast is in the process of acquiring Time Warner Cable, and AT&T has bid for DirecTV.
At the Allen & Co. media conference in Sun Valley last week, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes was asked about Fox's rumored interest in acquiring the conglom, and he responded, "I know nothing about it."
Fox first approached Time Warner in early June, then made a formal offer of $85 per share in cash and stock for the company later in the month, according to the Times report. Under the proposed deal, Fox had said that it would sell CNN to "head off potential antitrust concerns" since Fox News Channel competes directly with CNN, the Times reported. CNN has been seen as a potential target for CBS and ABC.
Both companies have moved recently to separate their entertainment and publishing businesses. News Corp. last year spun off its publishing division (which retained the News Corp name) and renamed itself 21st Century Fox. Last month, Time Warner's Time Inc. magazine split off as a separate, publicly traded company.
In the talks, Fox has been advised by Goldman Sachs and Centerview Partners, while Time Warner advisers have included Citigroup, the Times reported.
(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
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