Comcast publicly declared plans to top Disney’s bid to acquire 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets with an all-cash offer, Variety is reporting.
Earlier this month, Comcast began eying the Disney-Fox deal with the intent of making an offer (see "Comcast Planning a Bid for Fox Assets") but didn’t commit publicly. The signed deal between Disney and Fox involves a $52.4 billion payout in Disney stock (subject to adjustment) and Disney assuming $13.7 billion of net Fox debt, valuing the deal at $66.1 billion (see "Disney-Fox Deal Signed"). If the deal is disrupted for anything other than a regulatory block of the transaction, Fox will be required to pay a breakup fee of $1.52 billion.
Other than stating that the offer would be a "premium to the value of the current all-share offer from Disney," Comcast didn’t elaborate on its planned proposal. "While no final decision has been made, at this point the work to finance the all-cash offer and make the key regulatory filings is well advanced."
Comcast’s public move to announce the planned offer is timed to impact the upcoming shareholder meetings that both Disney and Fox investors will be participating in this summer to review the deal.
Plans All-Cash Offer
Posted by Nicole Bunge on May 23, 2018 @ 2:40 pm CT