Murdoch's Fox Withdraws $75 Billion Time Warner Takeover Offer

Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox Inc. withdrew its $75 billion takeover offer for Time Warner Inc., the owner of HBO and Warner Bros.

Murdoch, the chairman and founder of Fox, said he’s backing down after Time Warner’s board refused to engage in talks and Fox’s stock price declined 11 percent since the offer became public. Fox instead authorized a $6 billion repurchase of its Class A shares.

“Time Warner management and its board refused to engage with us to explore an offer which was highly compelling,” Murdoch, 83, said in a statement today. “Additionally, the reaction in our share price since our proposal was made undervalues our stock and makes the transaction unattractive to Fox shareholders. These factors, coupled with our commitment to be both disciplined in our approach to the combination and focused on delivering value for the Fox shareholders, has led us to withdraw our offer.”

Shares of Fox rose 8.6 percent to $34 at 4:12 p.m. New York time in late trading. Time Warner dropped 10 percent to $76.64 in late trading.

Keith Cocozza, a spokesman for Time Warner, didn’t immediately respond to a phone call or e-mail seeking comment.