All the updates and implications of 21st Century Fox’s acquisition – The Verge

Comcast will own all of Sky as Fox sells its stake for $15 billion

2018-09-26T11:45:17-04:00

The summer's Fox / Comcast / Disney drama came to a close last week when Comcast finally managed to outbid 21st Century Fox for a controlling stake in European TV and broadband provider Sky for $38.8 billion. And now, having lost that battle, Fox is ceding the remainder of its existing 39 percent ownership to Comcast in a $15 billion deal that would see Comcast gain full control of the UK telecom company, as reported by Variety.

Fox had long been attempting to gain full control of Sky - Fox's existing 39 percent stake as well as the intended remainder of the company was set to be included as part of the Disney deal - but ran into a competin …

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Comcast has outbid 21st Century Fox for Sky

2018-09-22T15:41:14-04:00

Comcast has won an auction to acquire UK telecommunications company Sky, bidding $38.8 billion to overtake Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox after a lengthy bidding war this summer. Comcast's win paves the way for it to acquire Sky and its 23 million European subscribers and entertainment assets. Sky's shareholders will now need to approve the deal.

Over the course of this year, Comcast and Fox have been locked in a titanic battle over their futures, one that will define the nature of the industry as a whole. Last summer, Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke with Murdoch about an acquisition of Fox and made its first offer in December, and while Comca …

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Dark Horse is losing its Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics

2018-08-16T13:11:11-04:00

Earlier this summer, Disney got the approval it needed to move forward with its plans to acquire 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets, allowing it to add franchises like Alien, X-Men, and others to its vast library of holdings. Now there's an indication that that transfer is underway: Fox is pulling Dark Horse's license to publish Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics.

Joss Whedon recently spoke with Comic Book Resources about a new comic adaptation of his Dr. Horrible musical, saying that he wanted to do more comics with Dark Horse "because Fox is taking the Buffy license and the Firefly license back." Dark Horse Comics confirmed the news, sa …

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Shareholders have approved Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox

2018-07-27T10:47:08-04:00

Shareholders have approved Disney's acquisition of 21st Century's film and television studios this morning, paving the way for Disney to add Fox's catalog of networks and intellectual property to its already vast holdings.

Disney will be required to divest itself of Fox's regional sports networks, because it already owns ESPN. The company also won't acquire all of Fox's holdings: the remaining assets - some broadcast networks, including Fox News, Fox Business and Fox Sports, and local TV stations will be spun into a new company called New Fox.

Word broke in November 2017 that Disney had been speaking with 21st Century Fox about acquiring t …

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Comcast gives up on buying 21st Century Fox assets and leaves Disney as the winner

2018-07-19T08:57:14-04:00

Comcast has formally withdrawn its competing $65 billion bid to acquire 21st Century Fox, ceding the rights to the entertainment company to Disney's upped $71.3 billion offer. Comcast says it will instead shift all focus to its ongoing efforts to acquire Europe's Sky instead.

Per an official statement from the company, "Comcast does not intend to pursue further the acquisition of the Twenty-First Century Fox assets and, instead, will focus on our recommended offer for Sky."

Nothing is standing in Disney's way now

Disney first announced its bid for Fox's assets - which include the movie studio 20th Century Fox, the company's TV production ar …

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Disney wins antitrust approval to acquire 21st Century Fox

2018-06-27T12:48:00-04:00

Disney has cleared a key hurdle in its bid to acquire 21st Century Fox: the company has won antitrust approval from the Justice Department, albeit with one condition. The Justice Department required that Disney divest Fox's regional sports networks, as they would create anti-competitive conflicts due to Disney's ownership of ESPN, according to Variety. Disney has agreed to the conditions.

In December, Disney announced that it would acquire 21st Century Fox's media holdings: its television and movie studios (but not its sports and news operations). Talks for the acquisition took place last fall, and were complicated when Comcast made overtur …

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Disney ups its Fox bid to $71.3 billion in response to Comcast offer

2018-06-20T09:14:57-04:00

Disney has officially upped its offer for the purchase of 21st Century Fox. It's now offering to purchase the entertainment giant's film and TV assets at a price of $38 per share, or roughly $71.3 billion, which is a drastic increase from the company's original $52.4 billion deal that valued Fox at $28 per share.

It's a direct counter to Comcast, which tried to swoop in earlier this month with a $65 billion, all-cash offer to top Disney's original bid by offering $35 per share. In addition to the increased price, Disney's new offer allows 21st Century Fox stockholders to choose to receive their chunk of the sale in the form of either cash o …

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Comcast’s offer to buy Fox out from under Disney has MCU fans freaking out about X-Men

2018-06-16T14:00:02-04:00

This week, after a federal court greenlit AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner and effectively signaled a shift toward a more merger-friendly environment in the US legal system, Comcast made good on weeks of hints by making an all-cash bid to buy 21st Century Fox for a whopping $65 billion. It's a conspicuous challenge to Disney's stock-based, months-in-the-making offer of $52.4 billion, and while it's unclear how the debacle will shake out in the end - following Comcast's bid, Disney stock actually went up; it's also possible that the two giants might split Fox's assets - one thing is certain: a horde of Marvel fans are now actively rallying a …

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What will Disney and Comcast own if they buy Fox?

2018-06-15T13:28:17-04:00

Earlier this week, Comcast made a $65 billion offer to acquire most of 21st Century Fox, attempting to derail a Disney-Fox acquisition that was announced last year. Comcast and Disney have both been chasing this deal for months. And although the financial terms for each company are different, they're looking for the same assets from Fox - which, in turn, is looking to refocus on its core network TV business.

But which parts of Fox are staying independent, and which ones will Comcast or Disney own? And how will the new parts fit into these massive conglomerates' existing businesses? Here's what you can look forward to if one of the deals goe …

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Comcast makes $65 billion offer to steal 21st Century Fox away from Disney

2018-06-13T16:07:42-04:00

After weeks of signaling it would do so, Comcast is making a play at 21st Century Fox's TV and film assets. Hoping to derail Disney's pending, stock-based $52.4 billion deal with Fox, Comcast is stepping in with a higher, all-cash offer for $35 per share, which totals approximately $65 billion. The move is likely to trigger an intense battle between Comcast and Disney as 21st Century Fox and the Murdoch empire weigh which is the better option. Fox's board of directors is scheduled to vote on the Disney deal on July 10th.

"Time is of the essence for your consideration of our proposal," Comcast CEO Brian Roberts wrote in a letter to Fox's boa …

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