Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate Twenty-First Century Fox Inc held initial buyout discussion with Discovery Communications Inc with an aim to establish a $100 billion entertainment giant, according to media reports early Monday.
Fox, which is among broadcasters that are struggling with a shift to on-demand TV, said no talks were being held with Discovery, which owns Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel.
“No truth, not even any sort of talks”, said John Connolly, a spokesman for the company in Australia. “There is no truth in the rumours.”
There were reports claiming that senior executives from both companies held a meeting about two weeks ago to talk about a potential takeover bid.
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Canadian National Railway said late on Sunday it came away from a negotiated settlement with Unifor, which is the largest union at CN with more than 4,800 members, without a full agreement.
Both parties are set to resume contract talks on Monday morning.
Canada’s No. 1 railway was going after a binding arbitration to settle contract differences on Friday when it first declared it was moving on track to lock out the 4,800 mechanical, intermodal and clerical workers represented by Unifor, a move expected to be announced as soon as Monday.
“We reiterate that binding arbitration may be the best way to prevent a labour dispute with Unifor members tomorrow evening,” CN Rail Chief Executive Claude Mongeau said in a statement late on Sunday.
With the lockout deadline approaching Feb., CN said it had started advising customers that it could be forced to put into effect labour contingency plans.
HSBC cleared its position after a report in the Guardian newspaper claimed its chief executive, Stuart Gulliver, had a Swiss account that was holding an amount of $7.6 million in 2007. Europe’s biggest bank admitted he holds a bank account in Switzerland clarifying that it was made open in 1998 to contain bonus payments. The bank provided details of the account and of other issues concerning Gulliver’s tax status, after the Guardian story was circulated. The spokeswoman said at the time of opening the account, Gulliver was living and working in Hong Kong with an aim to hold bonus payments. In addition, he fulfilled tax liabilities in Hong Kong on the bonus payments and voluntarily revealed his Swiss account to U.K. tax authorities for several years.
The discussions were “nascent”, and there was no guarantee that a formal offer would be made or that discussions have continued, it said.
