Comcast offers $65 billion to snake Fox from Disney

Could we see a bidding war for 21st Century Fox?

Comcast, the nation's largest cable television provider, on Wednesday offered $65 billion in cash to buy 21st Century Fox's film and TV studios, a bid that comes on top of an existing $52.4 billion, all-stock offer by Disney. Fox is home to marquee franchises like "X-Men," "Deadpool," "Kingsmen," "Planet of the Apes" and animated films like "Ice Age" and "Boss Baby."

The offer breaks down to $35 per share in cash, which Comcast says is a 19 percent premium over Disney's offer. Comcast also offered to pay the $2.5 billion breakup fee that Fox had agreed to with Disney, as well as the $1.53 billion fee that would've been paid to Disney, for an additional $4.03 billion. 

The deal comes barely a day after a federal judge ruled that telecommunications giant AT&T could buy Time Warner, which signaled to the media, tech and telecom worlds that any wheeling and dealing would be fair game. It's the first of what's expected to be a potential onslaught of deals as traditional entertainment powerhouses and internet service providers wrestle with growing competition from the likes of Google, Facebook and Netflix. 

The offer, which comes unsolicited, makes good on Comcast's promise to throw in a bid for Fox once the uncertainty over AT&T and Time Warner cleared up. Fox would join a stable of in-house entertainment outfits that include properties run by NBC Universal (think "The Fast the Furious" franchise).

"After our meetings last year, we came away convinced that the 21CF businesses to be sold are highly complementary to ours, and that our company would be the right strategic home for them," Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said in a letter to the executives and board of Fox. 

Disney, meanwhile, would have benefited from Fox's wide range of television and film assets, which would have fed into its planned streaming services. 

"Disney's acquisition of Fox represents the epicenter of Disney's streaming endeavors and Comcast entering the Fox sweepstakes is a game of high-stakes poker that could change the course of the media and streaming landscape for decades to come depending on which direction this deal heads," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at GBH Insights. 

Consumer advocacy groups lambasted the deal. 

"Comcast promised that bigger would be better when it merged with NBC Universal," said Jonathan Schwantes, senior policy counsel for Consumers Union. "But consumers have yet to see those promises come to fruition. Prices continue to increase and customers continue to complain about Comcast's lackluster customer service." 

Fox is set to hold a vote on the Disney offer July 10. 

Like Disney and Fox, Comcast is part owner of the streaming-TV service Hulu. A Comcast-Fox tie-up would double Comcast's stake in Hulu to 60 percent, putting a question mark over the future of one of the main streaming video services in the US.

The deal also threatens a grand Marvel reunion. Disney, which owns the film rights to the "Avengers," could unify the comic-book universe by bringing in-house Fox's rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four. Comcast snagging Fox away would give Universal a well-known comic-book franchise at a time when they're all the rage in the theaters. Universal owns the rights to the Incredible Hulk but has worked with Disney to get the character in Marvel-produced films. 

Neither a Disney nor Fox representative was immediately available for comment. 

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