Report: 21st Century Fox makes $80 billion takeover bid for Time Warner

Shares of Time Warner soared in premarket trading Wednesday after The New York Times reported that the media giant had rejected an $80 billion takeover bid from Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox.

Citing anonymous sources, the Times reported that Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. made a formal takeover proposal in June that was worth $85 in stock and cash for each Time Warner Inc. share. The report also said that Twenty-First Century Fox would have sold CNN as part of the deal to avoid anti-trust concerns, since its Fox News competes directly with the news network.

That price amounted to a 25 premium to Time Warner's stock price at the time. The newspaper said Time Warner's board discussed the offer at length and then rejected it, stating that the company was better off remaining independent.

But the Times also reported that Murdoch is unlikely to walk away from the company and is determined to make the acquisition happen.

A Twenty-First Century Fox spokesman declined to comment on the report when contacted by The Associated Press. A Time Warner representative did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Shares of Time Warner jumped nearly 20 percent, or $13.99 to $85 in premarket trading, while Twenty-First Century Fox climbed 56 cents to $35.75.