Word: mergers
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...owner Ted Turner was reported to be once again eyeing CBS, after its failed merger with QVC. But government regulations would probably block Turner from purchasing the "Tiffany network," according to TIME's New York correspondent Massimo Calabresi. Federal laws prohibit one company from controlling both television stations and cable systems in the same market. Turner's cable connections? Time Warner Inc. and Tele-Communications, Inc. -- both of which own stock in his company...
According to several sources, QVC's subsequent offer included a cash buyout of CBS, a move CBS declined. Then Diller, with Lipton and Herbert Allen of Allen & Co., whom Danny Tisch calls "the real financial architects of this transaction," rejiggered the proposal as a merger between equal parties. "Around June 10," recalls Danny, "we sat down -- my father, my brother Jimmy, who is executive vice president at Loews, and I -- with Marty Lipton. We didn't really come up with any negatives...
Whatever the obstacles, the CBS-QVC merger could be a quick, happy fix for two media barons under pressure. Diller gets to make a network grow into a giant of cable, broadcasting and only he knows what else (theatrical movies? video games? TV serials for home shoppers?). And CBS gets Diller. In essence, to secure an heir, Tisch bought a company. And a legacy. "Larry gets to walk out," says the TV-industry executive, "not as a failure, but as someone who took the company and turned it around. Now he's a winner: he's probably $400 million ahead...
...face, at least, the merger solves so many problems. Says the TV exec: "Here you put together two companies that seemingly were in trouble. QVC is basically a single great executive with an asset that has no future. CBS is a great asset with a great future but an executive that has no vision. So it was a perfect marriage...
...goes to a singles bar to announce her engagement. The leaking of the news so far in advance of the board meeting suggests at least that Tisch intends to consider other offers, which would further inflate the stock. One CBS executive admitted that Tisch went public with the merger news because "he fervently believes in doing a deal that makes the best sense for the shareholder. If the shareholders end up determining that there's a better deal, then . . ." Then the shareholders make a bundle. And who is CBS's largest shareholder? Larry Tisch...