Comcast Drops Out Of Disney/Fox Bidding War

Disney’s quest to take over 21st Century Fox has become more of a reality as Comcast has announced it will not be pursuing any more bids for Fox, however it would be focusing its efforts on purchasing Sky.

Here is the statement:

“Comcast does not intend to pursue further the acquisition of the Twenty-First Century Fox assets and, instead, will focus on our recommended offer for Sky

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Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation, said, “I’d like to congratulate Bob Iger and the team at Disney and commend the Murdoch family and Fox for creating such a desirable and respected company.”

Fox and Disney are set to have a vote on July 27th to finalize the deal, which was agreed in December 2017.  Comcast put in a higher offer, which then saw Disney up their offer to $71.3 billion.

With Comcast now stepping aside, this means the Disney is set to take over the bulk of Fox’s assets, which includes the FX and Nat Geo cable networks, the 20th Century Fox films and Fox’s stake in Sky and Hulu.  This would bring major brands like The Simpsons, Alien, Predator, Avatar, Family Guy into the Disney empire, plus it would also see Marvel regain full control over the Fantastic Four and X-Men.

Fox, Disney and Comcast are still trying to work out a deal for Sky, as Comcast has offered $34 billion to buy Sky.

Disney won the US Justice Department’s approval for its merger last month as long as Disney sells Fox’s sports networks.

But it does look like Disney is going to be adding 21st Century Fox to its growing companies and franchises, like Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars.