Well, we certainly didn’t have to wait long to see the effects of AT&T winning their anti-trust lawsuit, did we?
Comcast has now officially made an all-cash offer in the amount of $65 billion acquire much of Fox’s film and television assets, its international holdings and its stake in the Hulu streaming service. The $35-per-share offer represents a 19% premium on Disney’s $52.4 billion all-stock offer for the same assets.
The cable giant had made an offer for the company last year, but the legal conundrum over AT&T purchasing Time-Warner convinced Fox to sell to Disney instead. Now, with that matter settled in AT&T’s favor by the courts, Comcast feels emboldened to take another run at Fox.
This does not mean Disney is out of the running. Analyst fully expect the House of the Mouse to make a counter offer, which very well could lead to a bidding war that could raise the price of deal into the hundreds of billions of dollars range. So, go out and buy as much Fox stock as you can afford, while you still can.
Comcast is interested in Fox to increase its profile globally and to further divest from it cable operations, which is experiencing a downward trend. They are also expected to use Fox’s deep catalog of films and television shows, added to its similar catalog from its purchase of NBC Universal and DreamWorks Animation, to create a direct-to consumer service. This was one of the reasons why Disney wants Fox as well.
In a strange bit of trivia, Comcast has tried to by Disney in 2004, only to be rebuked.
More on this as it develops.
