Time Warner, Turner Close To Striking Deal

Time Warner Inc. and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. appeared to be closer to a deal Tuesday despite signs that the proposed terms may have upset a Time Warner partner, the regional phone company US West.

Time Warner owns 18 percent of Ted Turner’s cable and entertainment empire and is proposing to buy the rest for about $8 billion in stock.

Turner is said to like the deal which would leave him as Time Warner’s biggest shareholder at more than 10 percent and as its vice chairman overseeing his old company, led by Cable News Network, and other video operations.