MUMBAI: Who would have seen this coming?
A report that CNBC broke last month about Walt Disney acquiring a large chunk of the assets owned by 21st Century Fox, including Star India, is firming up to a possible announcement as early as next week, the US business news network reported early Tuesday, citing sources.
CNBC sources put the enterprise value of those Fox assets at $60 billion. The assets on sale include Star India (which the business news channel has valued in the region of $10 billion), the Twentieth Century Fox movie studio, cable networks FX and National Geographic, plus Fox’s stake in UK-based Sky.
Fox, meanwhile, would hold onto its sports, news and broadcast networks.
Fair enough.
But along with it comes a new report from UK’s Financial Times that as part of the deal, Fox CEO James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch, could well succeed Disney chief executive Bob Iger when he retires in 2019.
Closer home, the announcement Monday that Star India chairman and CEO Uday Shankar has been elevated to president, 21st Century Fox, Asia, now acquires a whole new gravitas.
The report put out by CNBC follows news from Bloomberg on Monday that Fox was leaning toward Disney as a preferred buyer, given its position as a strategic fit and the possibility of less regulatory red tape, and the Wall Street Journal’s report late Friday that talks between the two parties had resumed.
Also Read:
Uday Shankar elevated to president, 21st Century Fox, Asia
Talks with Disney could see most of Fox, including Star, sold
