After various press reports made the suggestion, 21st Century Fox confirmed that it made an $80B formal offer ($85/share comprised of both cash and stock) to buy Time Warner last month, but was ”rebuffed.”
Press reports suggest that 21st Century Fox was anticipating over $1B in synergies and had also proposed to sell off CNN in order to get a deal of this size through the regulators. Apparently, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes took this offer to the Board of Directors, where it was ”curtly” rejected.