Time Warner making bid for famed MGM studios

A bidding war has broken out for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with Time Warner Inc. making a nearly $5 billion offer for the venerable Hollywood studio, according to reports.

The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported in Thursday editions that Time Warner had made a preliminary offer that rivals overtures from Sony Corp.

Representatives from MGM and Time Warner said the companies had no comment on the reports.

MGM has been in talks with Sony for months over a sale that would value the studio at $5 billion.

Above, security guards stand in front of the entrance of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios Jan. 15, 2002, in Santa Monica, Calif.

Real Estate

Mortgage rates decline

Interest rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages fell for the second week in a row, offering encouraging news for people in the market to buy a home.

The mortgage company Freddie Mac, in its weekly nationwide survey, reported Thursday that rates on benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgages declined this week to 6.21 percent, compared with 6.25 percent last week.

Aviation

Wichita Boeing union to vote on proposal

Members of the second-largest union at Boeing Co.’s Wichita plant will vote next week on a four-year contract that includes a lump-sum payment upon ratification and guaranteed pay raises in three of the four years.

Negotiators for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace agreed Wednesday to present the new proposal to union members for a vote July 7, but did not tell them whether to accept the deal.

Finances

Protection One reaches agreement on debt

Officials with Protection One Inc. announced Thursday that they had reached an agreement with the company’s majority shareholder and largest lender, New York-based Quadrangle Group, LLC, to extend a standstill agreement between the firms.

The agreement assures that Quadrangle will not take any action to collect on loans Protection One has with the company until at least Tuesday. The agreement is the latest in a series of similar agreements the two companies have reached since Quadrangle became the majority owner of the monitored security business in February.

The company is based in Topeka but has announced plans to move its corporate headquarters to Lawrence later this year. Shares of Protection One closed down 2 cents to finish at 27 cents Thursday on the OTC market.