Last December, The Walt Disney Company outlined plans to acquire 21st Century Fox and a collection of its subsidiaries for $52.4 billion in stock. Those plans have been under regulatory scrutiny for months and have yet to be finalized, and now Comcast has confirmed it is in `advanced stages` of sending Fox a `superior` all-cash offer in hopes of besting Disney`s all-share offer (via Bloomberg).
Previous reports about Comcast`s potential bid also referenced an all-cash deal, and put an estimate above Disney`s to as much as $60 billion in cash from Comcast for the designated Fox assets. Comcast`s press release today does not disclose an offer amount, but the company says the structure and terms of any offer would be `at least as favorable to Fox shareholders as the Disney offer.`
Comcast says that its work to finance the offer for some of Fox`s assets is `well advanced,` and the company has already prepared to file key regulatory statements. Of course, no final decision has yet been made, but analyst Daniel Ives notes that, `If Comcast won these assets from the arms of Disney, it would be a devastating blow to [Disney CEO] Bob Iger.`
In view of the recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by The Walt Disney Company (`Disney`) and Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (`Fox`) in preparation for their upcoming shareholder meetings to consider the acquisition of Fox by Disney, Comcast Corporation (`Comcast`) confirms that it is considering, and is in advanced stages of preparing, an offer for the businesses that Fox has agreed to sell to Disney (which do not include the Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox Broadcasting Company and certain other assets).
Any offer for Fox would be all-cash and at a premium to the value of the current all-share offer from Disney. The structure and terms of any offer by Comcast, including with respect to both the spin-off of `New Fox` and the regulatory risk provisions and the ...
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