Media mogul Murdoch reaches for Time Warner
In his 83 years of life, Rupert Murdoch has created one of the largest media empires in the world with newspapers, TV stations and a film studio. He now seems to be working on finally creating a monument to himself.
In recent weeks, Murdoch has attempted to swallow up rival Time Warner. Although Time Warner has rejected the advances, Murdoch could increase his offer. Murdoch's 21st Century Fox group confirmed on Wednesday that it had submitted an offer for a merger to Time Warner in June. "The board of directors of Time Warner has declined to accept our offer," explained 21st Century Fox at its headquarters in New York. "We are not currently in discussions with Time Warner."
The deal would be the crowning achievement of Murdoch's career, in which he has created a global media group. A merged industry giant would include television channels such as Fox, TNT and the popular US pay-TV channel HBO ("Game of Thrones"); the major Hollywood studios 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. would also be part of the deal.
Insider: 80 billion offered
According to the New York Times, which first got wind of the offer, and the Reuters news agency, Murdoch offered 80 billion dollars for Time Warner. The news channel CNN, which belongs to Time Warner, could be sold on in order to allay any concerns of the competition authorities. With Fox News, Murdoch operates one of the fiercest rivals in the USA.
According to the information, Murdoch's right-hand man Chase Carey met with Time-Warner boss Jeff Bewkes in June to make him an offer. At 85 dollars per share, the offer was a quarter higher than the share price at the time. Part of the purchase price was to be paid in shares of Murdoch's media group 21st Century Fox. According to the Wall Street Journal, Murdoch submitted his offer again in writing in July. Among other things, Murdoch's Fox had estimated that a merger of the companies could reduce costs by around one billion dollars, primarily through job cuts.
Following the rejection, Murdoch's next move is unclear, wrote the New York Times. The financial news agency Bloomberg reported, citing an insider, that Murdoch was quite prepared to pay more than 85 dollars per Time Warner share. The stock jumped 16 percent to 82.50 dollars in pre-market trading on Wednesday. (SDA)
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