Comcast Ends Its Pursuit of Fox Assets -- WSJ
December 12 2017 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (December 12, 2017).
Comcast Corp. said it is no longer pursuing an acquisition of
several key media and entertainment assets from 21st Century Fox,
leaving Rupert Murdoch's media empire in position to finalize a
deal with Walt Disney Co.
The Philadelphia-based cable and programming giant had
approached 21st Century Fox about assets that included its
international properties, movie and television studios, and some
U.S. cable networks, The Wall Street Journal had previously
reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
"When a set of assets like 21st Century Fox's becomes available,
it's our responsibility to evaluate if there's a strategic fit that
could benefit our company and our shareholders," Comcast said in a
statement. "That's what we tried to do and we are no longer engaged
in the review of those assets. We never got the level of engagement
needed to make a definitive offer."
Meanwhile, Disney's talks to acquire assets from 21st Century
Fox continue to progress, and a deal could be announced as soon as
this week, people familiar with the matter said.
Wall Street Journal parent company News Corp and 21st Century
Fox share common ownership.
Besides its Sky and Star channels in Europe and India and its
Twentieth Century Fox television and movie studios, 21st Century
Fox is also expected to sell several cable networks including
almost two dozen regional sports channels and entertainment
networks FX and National Geographic Channel.
Not for sale are the Fox News and Fox Business channels, the Fox
broadcast network and its local television stations, which would
remain part of a stand-alone company. Its national sports channel
Fox Sports 1 also isn't part of any deal with Disney, which is the
parent company of ESPN, according to people familiar with the
matter.
Comcast was primarily interested in 21st Century Fox for its
international platforms, according to people familiar with the
matter, given that the pay-TV market in the U.S. is saturated and
traditional distributors like Comcast have been losing customers
recently.
In Monday's statement, Comcast said it has a "strong portfolio
of businesses" on its own and will continue its focus on "driving
growth" and creating content for its customers.
It was unclear how regulators would have even received a
combination involving Comcast and 21st Century Fox assets,
particularly in the wake of the Justice Department's lawsuit to try
to block AT&T Inc.'s takeover of Time Warner Inc., which
similarly would combine distribution and content.
To be sure, a horizontal deal between two programming giants
could also present regulatory and antitrust issues. The combination
of Disney and Fox's movie units represents 30% of the domestic box
office so far this year. Disney's ESPN would also be paired with
Fox's powerful regional sports networks.
A deal would give Disney intellectual property from 21st Century
Fox's television and movie libraries as well as additional cable
channels, plus a controlling interest in Hulu. The online video
platform is a joint venture between Disney, 21st Century Fox and
Comcast, which each own 30% of Hulu, and Time Warner, which has a
10% stake.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 12, 2017 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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