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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Mar 19, 2015 22:25:20 GMT -6
variety.com/2015/biz/news/cbs-time-warner-merger-talks-last-year-1201454790/CBS Flirted with Time Warner Last Year Amid Fox’s Takeover Bid CBS and Time Warner had brief discussions about a possible merger last year after 21st Century Fox made a run at Time Warner. Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that CBS and Time Warner had meetings about a possible combination but the talks never gained steam as TW chief exec Jeff Bewkes was uninterested in a deal. A source acknowledged that discussions were held last summer but never went very far. Fox’s unsolicited $80 billion takeover offer for Time Warner, which became public last July, spurred the outreach from CBS. Although sources stress that there are no active conversations between the Eye and TW, the conversations between CBS chief Leslie Moonves and Bewkes indicate that CBS is looking for options to charting a course for its future. There’s no certainty about the long-term ownership picture for CBS because of the advancing years of controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone, who will be 92 in May. After his death, Redstone’s grip on CBS and Viacom will be transferred to a family trust overseen by a board of five executives that includes Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman but not Moonves. Moonves said last week at an investor conference that he does not feel pressure to grow CBS Corp.’s holdings significantly or find a merger partner unless an attractive deal came along at the right price.
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