Time Warner is reportedly in talks to buy a major stake in Vice Media in a deal that would value the media company at roughly $2.2 billion, according to a report by Sky News, which cites anonymous sources.
According to the report, the talks were in an advanced stage, but the final details have yet to be ironed out. Under one possible scenario, Time Warner would fold its cable news network, HLN, into New York-based Vice and receive about half of the resulting company in return.
Vice attempts to maintain an edgy tone that permeates through the group’s print, online and television platforms. Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox paid $70 million for a 5% stake in the company, valuing it at about $1.4 billion, last summer.
Rumors of the negotiations come on the same day that Time Warner (TWX) formally completed its spin-off of magazine company Time Inc., which publishes Fortune.