P. M. BRIEFING : Time Soars $43.50 on New Offer

NEW YORK —  Time Inc. shares rocketed in early trading today in a run-up sparked by a $10-billion takeover offer from Paramount Communications Inc. The offer rivals a merger agreement Time has with Warner Communications Inc.

Time jumped $43.50 to $169.50 a share on the New York Stock Exchange. After a delayed opening, Warner was up $1.37 1/2 to $53.12 1/2 and Paramount slipped 87 1/2 cents to $53.12 1/2.

Paramount, the entertainment and media company formerly known as Gulf & Western Inc., announced late Tuesday a tender offer of $175 a share cash for Time.

The company also filed a lawsuit in Delaware, where Time is incorporated, to block provisions of the Time-Warner agreement that Paramount said were aimed at thwarting competing offers. But a judge declined to immediately grant Paramount’s request.