US: Comcast bids US$65b for most of 21st Century Fox

Comcast announced a US$65 billion bid for Twenty-First Century Fox units that are currently in an agreement to be acquired by Walt Disney, reported Bloomberg.

The bid, announced Wednesday, June 13, represents a 19% premium to Disney’s offer. Comcast, the parent of CNBC, offered US$35 a share in cash.

In a letter to Fox’s board, and members of the Murdoch family, Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts said, “We were disappointed when [Fox] decided to enter into a transaction with The Walt Disney Company, even though we had offered a meaningfully higher price.” It goes on to say, “We are pleased to present a new, all-cash proposal that fully addresses the Board’s stated concerns with our prior proposal.”

The move follows AT&T Inc’s victory over the US Justice Department in its antitrust battle to take over Time Warner Inc. That outcome is expected to spur a wave of media consolidation, emboldening companies to make offers they might otherwise have skipped.

Disney and Comcast are locked in a high-stakes contest for the Fox entertainment assets, which include movie and TV studios, television networks such as FX, and multichannel providers like Star India and Sky Plc. With Wednesday’s bid, Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts is seeking to disrupt Disney CEO Bob Iger’s plan to use Fox properties to bolster that company’s already-vast entertainment offerings.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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