21st Century Fox Has Held Merger Talks With Disney—Reports
21st Century Fox has been holding talks to sell most of the company to Disney: Sources
Reports disclosing "on-again-off-again" merger talks between 21st Century Fox and the Walt Disney Co. sent Fox shares soaring as Wall Street, Hollywood and the media business digested the prospect of yet more consolidation.
The talks have reportedly happened over several weeks, with the motivation being the increasing scale occurring across the content and distribution landscape. Senior management at Fox has come to believe that a broader portfolio is not viable unless it is offered at greater scale. The merger scenario would see Fox selling most of its media assets to Disney, preserving a more focused company built on news and sports.
21st Century Fox has been holding talks to sell most of the company to Disney
Disney would not purchase all of Fox, according to people with knowledge of the talks.
The company could not own two broadcast networks and would therefore not buy the Fox broadcast network. It would not buy Fox's sports programming assets in the belief that combining them with ESPN could be seen as anti-competitive from an antitrust standpoint and it would not buy the Fox News or Business channel. Disney would also not purchase Fox's local broadcasting affiliates, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
In addition to the movie studio, TV production and international assets such as Star and Sky, Disney would also add entertainment networks such as FX and National Geographic.
21st Century Fox has been holding talks to sell most of the company to Disney: Sources
Reports disclosing "on-again-off-again" merger talks between 21st Century Fox and the Walt Disney Co. sent Fox shares soaring as Wall Street, Hollywood and the media business digested the prospect of yet more consolidation.
The talks have reportedly happened over several weeks, with the motivation being the increasing scale occurring across the content and distribution landscape. Senior management at Fox has come to believe that a broader portfolio is not viable unless it is offered at greater scale. The merger scenario would see Fox selling most of its media assets to Disney, preserving a more focused company built on news and sports.
21st Century Fox has been holding talks to sell most of the company to Disney
Disney would not purchase all of Fox, according to people with knowledge of the talks.
The company could not own two broadcast networks and would therefore not buy the Fox broadcast network. It would not buy Fox's sports programming assets in the belief that combining them with ESPN could be seen as anti-competitive from an antitrust standpoint and it would not buy the Fox News or Business channel. Disney would also not purchase Fox's local broadcasting affiliates, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
In addition to the movie studio, TV production and international assets such as Star and Sky, Disney would also add entertainment networks such as FX and National Geographic.
