Earlier this month, Disney raised their offer to $71.3B for 21st Century Fox which the company accepted. It was expected that Comcast would continue to engage in a bidding war, but this morning the cable giant put up the white flag.
After a months long bidding war, Comcast has given up on their bid for 21st Century Fox and instead will focus their efforts on acquiring UK-based Sky.
The deal will leave Disney as the owner of 21st Century Fox which would also make them the majority shareholder of streaming service Hulu. The final $71.3B deal — 50% in cash and 50% in stock — surpassed Disney’s original offer of $52.4B and Comcast’s $65B counteroffer last month.
The deal includes:
- 20th Century Fox
- 20th Century Fox Television
- FX Networks
- National Geographic
- Fox Regional Sports Networks
- 30% Stake in Hulu
- Stake in international networks Sky and Star TV.
The deal is expected to be approved, so long as Disney divests Fox Regional Sports Networks which could fetch as much as $25B.