Bloomberg News/Landov
Walt Disney Co. raised its offer to purchase most of 21st Century Fox to more than $70 billion in cash and stock, topping an unsolicited offer from rival Comcast Corp. as the bidding war for the coveted media properties escalates.
Disney’s new offer is far higher than the price of its original deal, $52.4 billion in stock, and surpasses Comcast’s all-cash offer of roughly $65 billion. Disney will pay Fox shareholders roughly 50% in cash and 50% in stock.
Fox, in a news release, said the new Disney deal “is superior to the proposal” made by Comcast earlier this month. Comcast officials were unavailable for comment.
IThe assets in play include the Twentieth Century Fox film and TV studio; U.S. cable networks including FX and regional sports channels; international assets including Sky PLC and Star India; and Fox’s one-third stake in the streaming service Hulu.
Neither proposed deal includes Fox News, Fox Sports 1, the Fox broadcast network or its television stations. In either scenario, those assets would be spun off into a new company, for the moment, dubbed “New Fox.”
Popular now on WSJ.com: