The Walt Disney Company has countered Comcast’s $65 billion all-cash bid for Fox with a $71 billion offer that consists of a 50/50 cash and stock split, according to the Wall Street Journal.
This is much higher than Disney’s original $52 billion all stock offer.
According to the WSJ, Fox is much happier with Disney’s offer than with Comcast’s.
Fox, in a news release, said the new Disney deal “is superior to the proposal” made by Comcast earlier this month. A Comcast spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
While there was some chatter about Disney and Comcast dividing up the Fox assets, Disney CEO Bob Iger has put the kibosh on that rumor. “We have an agreement in place with [Fox] that precludes that,” he is quoted as saying in a conference call.
Disney also has time on its side, Mr. Iger said, because the company’s deal with Fox has undergone several months of regulatory review and would presumably be approved sooner than if Comcast started the process today.
It’s all about the Disney streaming service…
Disney is betting heavily on its upcoming streaming service, the as-of-yet untitled Netflix competitor. According to Iger, the Fox programming will give Disney a nice start out of the gate when it launches the service in 2019.
The Simpsons might want to cut back on some of its Disney jokes.
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Comcast’s stock is down 17% on the year, and a counter offer is unlikely as it would saddle the company with a lot of debt.
Stay tuned to The Kingdom Insider for more news on the drama that is the Disney-Fox merger.
[Source: WSJ]
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