Time Warner’s board has approved a measure to block a section of its shareholders from forcing a vote on a takeover bid from rival media company 21st Century Fox, which operates the Fox Sports channels.
It emerged last week that Time Warner had rejected an initial offer of $80bn (€59bn) from 21st Century Fox, comprising $85 in stock and cash for each share. Another bid is anticipated from 21st Century Fox.
According to public filings, Time Warner has opted to prevent about 15 per cent of the company’s shareholders from forcing a vote on 21st Century Fox’s takeover bid, albeit on a temporary basis. The so-called ‘special meeting provision’ could be reinstated at the company’s 2015 shareholders’ meeting.
According to the Bloomberg news agency, Fox may reach a deal to sell its shareholdings in pay-television broadcasters Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland in Italy and Germany, respectively, to UK pay-television broadcaster BSkyB in the next two weeks. Fox has a 39-per-cent stake in BSkyB, a 57-per-cent stake in Sky Deutschland and owns 100 per cent of Sky Italia.
Any deal would have combined Fox’s growing sports media business with Time Warner’s sports-rights deals in Major League Baseball and professional and college basketball, among other sports.