Time Warner withdraw their buy-out bid for MGM - Sony now the sole bidder with $5b offer

Time Warner have withdrawn their buy-out bid for James Bond studio MGM according to the latest reports.

Trusted trade paper the Hollywood Reporter said: "Time Warner shocked Wall Street mid-day Monday by dropping its bid for MGM, citing a need for financial discipline."



In a statement, chairman and CEO Dick Parsons said: "Although MGM is a valuable asset, we have decided to withdraw our bid." Parsons added: "As we pledged to our shareholders, we approach every potential acquisition with strict financial discipline. Unfortunately, Time Warner could not reach agreement with MGM at a price that would have represented a prudent use of our growing financial capacity."

Sources have said that TW has been offering to pay about $4.6 billion-$4.7 billion in an all-cash offer, but MGM has naturally been pushing for more. Sony Corp. and its private equity partners have offered about $5 billion.

"We are confident that there are other capital allocation choices that will enable us to continue to build shareholder value," Parsons said.

Thanks to `Mathewww` for the alert.

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