According to reports from CNBC and Variety Magazine, Disney and Fox could be striking a $60 billion deal as early as Thursday, December 14th. The Walt Disney Company would acquire Twenty-First Century Fox’s film and TV studios in this pact.
While Disney would obtain major sports and entertainment assets, Fox would retain Fox News, the Fox broadcast network and Fox Sports 1. These remaining assets will make up an independent company different than Twenty-First Century Fox as it stands now.
This deal is expected shake up the entertainment industry. The acquisition will remove Twenty-First Century Fox as a media giant, reducing the number of major studios from six to five. Also, the deal could give Disney access to a wealth of shows and films, which would position the company as the prime competitor to Netflix.
This deal would also have large implications for shareholders of each company. The independent Fox company that will emerge out of the deal will likely be sold at about $10 a share. Current Fox shareholders will receive a stake in the new company and shares of Disney based on a fixed exchange ratio. Disney shares are at about $107 while Fox shares rose to about $33 this morning.
This deal comes after Comcast dropped out of the running for Fox’s assets on Monday. This is the largest and most recent acquisition in Disney CEO Bob Iger’s history of buying out entertainment assets such as Marvel ($4 billion), Lucasfilm ($4 billion) and Pixar ($7.4 billion).
Sources/Image: Variety Magazine and CNBC
