Executives from Starz met on Tuesday with 21st Century Fox and discussed selling the premium network programmer.
21st Century Fox last month called off a bid for Time Warner, whose key assets include HBO. Rupert Murdoch’s media company has since said it plans no major acquisitions—and Starz would carry a pricetag in the billions of dollars.
One executive familiar with the meeting said Fox agreed to meet with Starz as a courtesy and had no interest in pursuing a transaction. The talks were originally reported by the Los Angeles Times.
A Starz spokesman did not return a request for a comment.
It is unclear if Starz, controlled by John Malone, will attempt to sell itself to other media companies.
Starz stock rose more than 5% in early trading Wednesday on the possibility the company will be acquired.
