Hicks Equity Partners, a hedge fund with ties to a co-chair of the Republican National Committee, has held talks about acquiring Newsmax TV as a way to challenge Fox News, The Wall Street Journal reports.
President Trump has tweeted his displeasure with Fox (NASDAQ:FOX) (NASDAQ:FOXA) about calling Arizona early, in his view, for President-elect Joe Biden and has reportedly told friends he wants to "wreck" the network.
The report sent shares of Fox lower on the day.
A larger effort to challenge Fox would include a video streaming service, but it's unclear whether a deal with Newsmax would move forward, the Journal says.
“Newsmax never had any deal with the Hicks group, and if it’s true they were using our name for the purposes of capital fundraising, that is wholly inappropriate,” Newsmax chief executive Chris Ruddy told the paper.
Shares of Fox are down 4.6% in the last month.
