The world's biggest media group, Time Warner, has made an offer for Metro Goldwyn Mayer studios, but for a price less than the five billion dollars proposed by Sony, a source familiar with the talks said Thursday.
"Time Warner is interested by this opportunity. It would be a good strategic fit for us," a source close to Time Warner told AFP.
"But Time Warner is only willing to make a move at the right price, which is lower than the one offered by Sony."
The New York Times reported earlier that the offer amounts to 4.7 billion dollars (3.9 billion euros), slightly less than a five-billion-dollar bid by Sony for the independent Hollywood studio.
"MGM is trying to market itself through the newspapers. They are pitting the bidders against one another," the source told AFP.
"It would be premature to jump to a conclusion. We're still in the very early stages of the process."
Sony's offer, which includes debt assumption, reportedly would allow the Japanese consumer electronics, movie and music giant to acquire 80-year-old MGM's 4,200-title library of post-1948 movies and create the industry's largest collection.
Time Warner's bid, according to the Times, would pay about 13 dollars in cash to MGM shareholders and about 11.50 dollars a share in Time Warner stock to the studio's major shareholder, billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.
The Times report said that Kerkorian was particularly attracted by the idea of becoming a major shareholder in Time Warner.
At MGM's shareholder meeting Tuesday, studio executives told investors MGM was exploring alternatives. There was no mention of a pending Sony deal.
NBC-Universal, the new General Electric unit formed by NBC and the former entertainment assets of France's Vivendi Universal, is believed to be interested in MGM but has made no offer.
"There's some interest, but nothing serious will take place in the near term. For now, NBC is focusing on the integration of Universal," said a source close to NBC Universal.
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