TIME INC. STRIKES BACK

THE BATTLE OF THE ENTERTAINMENT GIANTS . . . MARCH 4: Time and Warner announce that they will merge in a non-cash exchange of stock, creating the worlds’s largest media company. Under the $18-billion deal, Warner shareholders would receive 62% of the combined company, to be called Time Warner Inc. JUNE 6: Paramount launches a $10.7-billion takeover bid for Time, offering $175 in cash for each Time share. JUNE 16: Time Inc. rejects Paramount’s bid and launches a $14-billion bid to acquire Warner. Time also files a lawsuit to block Paramount from interfering with the Time-Warner deal. . . . AND THE POSSIBLE RESULTS 1 Time succeeds in acquiring Warner. 2 Paramount succeeds in acquiring Time Inc. 3 Time restructures itself financially, taking on debt and paying out a large cash dividend to shareholders. This would make it unattractive to any further suitors. 4 Yet another company succeeds in acquiring Time, Warner or Paramount. Possible bidders are rumored to include General Electric, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., Sony Corp., West German publisher Bertelsmann, French publisher Hachette and Walt Disney Co. Of these companies, only News Corp. has acknowledged any interest in making a bid.