Comcast made good on its plans to make an offer for 21st Century Fox film and TV assets today, with a cash bid of $65 billion, or $35 per share.That 19 percent more than the $52.4 billion that Disney agreed to pay in December.This follows yesterday U.S.
court approval of the merger of ATT and Time Warner, which was widely expected to lead Comcast to make a new bid for Fox and, in the long-term, set the stage for broader consolidation between ISPs and media companies.
(This is where I remind you that TechCrunch is owned by Oath, a digital media subsidiary of Verizon.)In a letter to Fox executives (namely Rupert, James and Lachlan Murdoch), Comcast CEO Brian Roberts wrote that after meetings last year, his team was convinced that Comcast would be &the right strategic home& for the Fox assets, and that &we were disappointed when 21CF decided to enter into a transaction with The Walt Disney Company, even though we had offered a meaningfully higher price.&&In light of yesterday decision in the ATT/Time Warner case, the limited time prior to your shareholders& meeting, and our strong continued interest, we are pleased to present a new, all-cash proposal that fully addresses the Board stated concerns with our prior proposal,& Roberts said.This could set off a battle between Comcast and Disney .
The assets at stake include the Fox film studio (which owns the Avatar franchise, the film rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four and the original Star Wars), its TV studio, its cable networks and its stake in Hulu.In the letter, Roberts also said a Comcast-Fox acquisition is &as or more likely to receive regulatory approval than the Disney transaction& and that Comcast would reimburse Fox for the $1.5 billion breakup fee with Disney.Update: Fox released a statement confirming that it has received the bid.
It also said, &21st Century Fox has not yet made a determination, in light of Comcast proposal, as to whether it will postpone or adjourn& its July 10 stockholder meeting to discuss the Disney acquisition.