BURBANK, California: The Walt Disney Company announced Wednesday that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) had conditionally approved its pending acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Inc., and in the process almost certainly shutting the door on rival Comcast in what has been a bitterly fought bidding war.
The condition is that Disney must sell Fox’s regional sports networks as those, coupled with ESPN, could form a monopoly in sports broadcasting.
Under the consent decree, Disney will have at least 90 days from the date of closing the transaction to complete this sale, with the possibility that the DOJ can grant extensions of time up to another 90 days.
Last week, Disney and Fox announced an amended acquisition agreement pursuant to which Disney will acquire Fox for $38 per share in cash and stock, or a total consideration of about $71.3 billion, immediately following the spin-off of the businesses comprising “New Fox” as previously announced.
Shares of Fox rose 2% on the news to $48.59 giving the Rupert Murdoch family controlled media conglomerate a market capitalization of $89.6 billion, meaning that Wall Street values the portion Disney will not be purchasing at $18.3 billion, Billboard reports.
Murdoch agreed in December to sell much of his media empire to Disney, including TV and film studios, Star India, National Geographic and the company’s 30% stake in Hulu. At the time, the price was $52.4 billion in an all-stock deal.
