On Tuesday U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon approved the $80 billion merger between AT&T and Time Warner, which sets a dangerous precedence for future mergers and consolidation of mass media that could lessen competition and risk one company having too much power over one market, especially with Net Neutrality ending this week. But, at least this might make things easier for Disney in acquiring the X-Men and Fantastic Four.
While this means that there will likely be no risk of the deal being opposed or denied by the Government, it also signals to competitors that the reigns are officially off. This means we should be expecting an official announcement from Comcast of a counter bid in cash to Disney’s stock any day now, which Disney is fortunately prepared for when it happens. As the deal currently stands Disney is offering Fox $52.4 billion in stock, along with assuming approximately $13.7 billion of their net debt, while Comcast is reported to be offering them upwards of $60 billion in cash.
Now, this all depends on Fox shareholders, who will hold a vote regarding Disney’s bid of $52.4 billion on July 10th, but if Comcast makes a counter bid in time that would require Fox to send shareholders supplementary material about this new offer – meaning the vote would have to be delayed.
Personally, I think Disney will win out in this bidding war as they’ve been at this since December and I don’t think they’ll give up to Comcast so easily without a fight.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
