Intermix Directors Reject Ex-CEO’s Bid

Intermix Media Inc. directors Monday rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from an investor group led by former Chief Executive Brad Greenspan, backing instead a bid from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

The offer of $13.50 a share from Greenspan’s group, FreeMySpace, “does not compare favorably” with a pending bid from News Corp., Los Angeles-based Intermix said in a statement. News Corp. has offered $580 million, or $12 a share, in cash for the website operator.

Only half of Greenspan’s offer is cash, and there are “risks relating to the financing for the transaction,” the directors said in the statement. Greenspan would need to raise more than $300 million to complete the purchase, offering “significantly less certainty of closing” than the News Corp. bid, they said.

Greenspan, who founded the websites that are now part of Intermix and was chief executive of the company until October 2003, wants to block the News Corp. bid. He said Friday that News Corp.’s offer for Intermix seemed “incredibly low.”

Intermix owns MySpace.com, a website offering chat rooms and e-mail to teens and young adults.

Intermix shares, which have more than doubled this year, fell 23 cents to $12.07.