Remember how Disney bought 21st Century Fox back in December? Well, Comcast’s not giving up without a fight. Reuters reports that they’re drumming up $60B in new financing to offer Fox an all-cash deal — and pull the rug out from under Disney.
AKA, it’s “cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs” out in multimedia corporate conglomerate land.
It’s getting ugly
Disney CEO Bob Iger locked in a $52B all-stock deal back in December to acquire Fox’s film, television, and international business.
Now Comcast wants to usurp them and buy the same assets that Disney is attempting to acquire, including Hulu, which all 3 companies currently own 30% of.
What are the chances of Fox saying ‘yes’?
It’s tough to tell. Fox previously turned down a Comcast stock offer in the $60B range before taking a smaller deal with Disney, reportedly due to Comcast’s prior regulatory troubles.
See, the FCC has thwarted Comcast’s acquisition attempts in the past (e.g., their attempt to acquire Time Warner) fore fear of further conglomerating the nation’s already largest home broadband network and giving a single corporation too much power.
But, Comcast is hoping an all-cash deal will sweeten the pot and help Fox’s shareholders look past its baggage.
And then, of course, there’s the AT&T/Time Warner deal
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts plans to proceed with the bid only if a federal judge allows AT&T’s planned $85B acquisition of Time Warner to proceed.
Earlier in the year, The DOJ opposed the deal over antitrust concerns — if AT&T wins the court proceedings, the ruling would, according to Ars Technica, potentially improve Comcast’s chances of buying another entertainment company.
Moral: The corporate media empire power struggle is real.
