ANOTHER TAKE ON COLLAPSE OF WEINSTEIN-DISNEY TALKS

Ron Burkle, the billionaire investor who was leading the negotiations to buy Miramax from the Walt Disney Co. and put it back in the hands of Bob and Harvey Weinstein to manage, reportedly cut his offer to $565 million from $625 million last week, leading Disney to end further negotiations with him and his group, published reports said Wednesday, each citing unnamed sources close to the talks. The reports indicated that Burkle, after performing due diligence, decided that Disney had inflated the value of Miramax’s library of 611 films. Other reports, also citing persons close to the negotiations, denied that Burkle had cut his offer. The collapse of the exclusive talks with Burkle and the Weinsteins has resulted in the revival of negotiations with brothers Alec and Tom Gores and their investors groups, who are already in talks with John Malone’s Liberty Media to take over its Starz Media unit, which includes Overture Films, Film Roman, and video distributor Anchor Bay.