Disney Re-Engages in Talks to Buy 21st Century Fox Assets
December 02 2017 - 2:00PM
Dow Jones News
By Dana Mattioli and Amol Sharma
Walt Disney Co. has re-engaged in discussions with 21st Century
Fox to purchase some of the media giant's assets, and Comcast Corp.
remains in the mix, with deal talks gaining momentum, according to
people familiar with the situation.
The talks center on the Twentieth Century Fox movie and TV
studio, international assets such as Fox's 39% holding in U.K.
satellite TV provider Sky PLC and India's Star TV, along with some
U.S. cable networks. Fox News, the Fox broadcast network and sports
network FS1 aren't expected to be sold in any transaction, the
people said.
Rupert Murdoch and his family, who hold 39% of 21st Century
Fox's voting shares, expect to make a decision by year's end on
whether to pursue a transaction, the people said.
Disney first reached out to 21st Century Fox about a possible
deal several weeks ago, but the talks cooled after the two sides
couldn't agree on price, among other issues, people familiar with
the matter have said.
Once news of those initial talks surfaced, other potential
acquirers began emerging. Comcast, Sony Corp.'s entertainment unit,
and Verizon Communications Inc., are among firms that have
expressed various levels of interest, the people familiar with the
situation say. The extent of discussions with Sony and Verizon is
unclear. A top Verizon executive last week played down the need for
the company to do a big content acquisition.
Disney and Comcast are in active talks with 21st Century Fox. It
is possible the talks could fall through and a deal won't be
reached.
21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal-parent News Corp share
common ownership.
Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com and Amol Sharma
at amol.sharma@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 02, 2017 13:45 ET (18:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024