According to the latest finance news, Walt Disney Company has agreed to buy television film and international businesses from Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox Inc for $52.4 billion worth of assets on 14th December, 2017, Thursday. The assets include the historic 20th Century Fox movie studio.
Disney will be acquiring the studios which produce blockbuster Marvel superhero pictures and the “Avatar” franchise. Disney will also be taking over the production of hit TV shows such as “The Simpsons”. Reportedly, the Fox shareholders will be receiving 0.2745 Disney shares for each share held. The shareholders would be receiving approximately $29.50 per share for the assets that Disney is buying.
The deal also includes Sky, Fox’s US cable networks including FX and the National Geographic Channel and India’s Star TV. Disney also announced that Bob Iger, the Chief Executive, 66, will be extending his tenure through 2021 in order to oversee the integration of the Fox businesses. Although the portfolio of Disney looks well-stocked with characters and franchises, this move was made in an effort to have a stronger catalog for the future.
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Mr. Murdoch, 86, was responsible for turning a single Australian newspaper which he inherited from his father at the age of 21 into one of the world’s most important broadcasting network and film producers.
Disney will also own 60% stake in Hulu which is also partially owned by Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. Hulu is one of the main competitor’s of Netflix.
The main of this merger was not just about content, but controlling one of the potential content distribution channels in the future. The shares in both Disney and Fox were up nearly 1 percent in premarket trading.
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