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Share Name | Share Symbol | Market | Type |
---|---|---|---|
Walt Disney Co | NYSE:DIS | NYSE | Common Stock |
Price Change | % Change | Share Price | High Price | Low Price | Open Price | Shares Traded | Last Trade | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.33 | 1.18% | 113.95 | 114.11 | 112.7996 | 113.63 | 7,411,117 | 01:00:00 |
By Amol Sharma and Shalini Ramachandran
Cable giant Comcast Corp. is contemplating reviving its pursuit of 21st Century Fox, after its bid for the company's entertainment assets was turned down despite being over 15% higher than that of eventual buyer Walt Disney Co., according to people familiar with the situation.
Disney struck a deal with Fox in December, agreeing to pay $52.4 billion in stock. Fox turned down a Comcast offer that was in the low-$60 billions range, the people said. The assets on the table in both offers were essentially the same, including the Twentieth Century Fox movie and TV studio, international pay TV properties and some U.S. cable networks.
Fox's primary concern about the Comcast bid was that a tie-up between the companies would face significant antitrust risks, people familiar with the discussions said.
A Comcast acquisition of Fox would be a "vertical" deal adding more cable TV channels to a company that also is a powerhouse in channel-distribution. The government signaled concerns about vertical deals when it sued to block AT&T Inc.'s acquisition of Time Warner Inc., a case that heads to trial next month. Some Wall Street analysts noted the potential roadblocks in Washington to a Comcast-Fox deal.
Comcast believed it had offered substantial protections in its offer against antitrust risk, some of the people familiar with the situation said.
Fox executives positioned the Disney deal as a chance for its investors to benefit from Disney's vast content machine and plans to battle the likes of Netflix Inc. with direct-to-consumer streaming services. After an asset sale, the remaining "new Fox" would have properties including the Fox broadcast network, Fox News and Fox Sports 1.
21st Century Fox Chief Executive James Murdoch, son of Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch, may get a position at Disney if the deal is completed. It is also possible the younger Mr. Murdoch could strike out on his own.
The Murdoch family controls a 39% voting interest in both 21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal-parent News Corp.
A Disney spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Comcast may choose to take no further action. One key development that could influence its thinking is Fox's release of a proxy statement on the merger, which would likely indicate the general process that led up to sealing a deal. It is unclear when Fox will file its proxy with regulators, ahead of a shareholder vote on the deal.
Write to Amol Sharma at amol.sharma@wsj.com and Shalini Ramachandran at shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 11, 2018 20:26 ET (01:26 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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