Comcast announced on Wednesday a roughly $65 billion all-cash bid for 21st Century Fox assets, an offer that pits the cable giant against Walt Disney Co.
Fox previously agreed to a separate stock-based deal with Disney, originally valued at roughly $66 billion. Comcast said its proposal of $35 per share is approximately a 19 percent premium on Disney’s stock offer, based on the change in Disney’s share price since the acquisition was announced in December.
The widely expected move was made possible by a judge’s rejection of the federal government’s attempt to block the AT&T and Time Warner merger, Comcast said in a letter to Fox.
[Related: AT&T’s victory in Time Warner merger clears way for deal bonanza]
“We are also highly confident that our proposed transaction will obtain all necessary regulatory approvals in a timely manner and that our transaction is as or more likely to receive regulatory approval than the Disney transaction,” the company wrote.
Comcast offered to reimburse the company for the $1.525 billion break-up fee that Fox would be required to pay Disney if it called off the acquisition, as well as another $2.5 billion should regulators block the deal. Fox shareholders were expected to vote on the Disney merger on July 10.
Spokespersons for Disney and Fox did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Fox Executive Chairman Lachlan Murdoch previously told investors that management was “committed to our agreement with Disney and are working through the conditions to bring it to a closing.”
At stake in either deal are Fox assets including film studio 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Television and the company’s 30 percent stake in Hulu.
Tuesday’s ruling against the Department of Justice in the AT&T deal is expected to result in a flurry of so-called vertical mergers, or transactions involving two companies that don’t compete directly but operate at different parts of the supply chain.
Comcast’s offer for Fox comes as telecommunications companies such as AT&T seek to expand their video content offerings to better compete with technology giants like Amazon and upstarts like Netflix.
The cable company previously purchased a majority stake in NBC Universal for roughly $30 billion in 2011, then bought General Electric’s remaining 49 percent stake for nearly $17 billion four years later.
