Disney, Fox megadeal: What's on the table
Disney (NYSE:DIS) will acquire select assets from 21st Century Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA), the two companies said on Thursday, in a deal valued at $52.4 billion.
Under the agreement, 21st Century Fox executive chairman Rupert Murdoch will create a new company called ‘Fox,’ focused on core assets including Fox News, FOX Business and Fox Sports.
“The new Fox will have Fox News, FOX Business, Fox Broadcasting, Fox Sports, but the point is it will have a cash flow of at least $2 billion a year,” Murdoch told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Thursday.
While the main news organizations are not a part of the transaction, here’s what Murdoch has agreed to sell to Disney.
20th Century Fox Film
Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox are among the top five largest and most profitable domestic film studios.
Upcoming 20th Century Fox films include “The Greatest Showman,” and “Ferdinand.”
For intellectual property purposes, Disney will own the right to the original Star Wars film and a greater selection of Marvel comic book characters, like the X-Men, that could lend to new combinations for future films.
The deal will also include FX Networks.
20th Century Fox Television
Disney is reportedly working on creating its own streaming service, so having the rights to a host of new content could be extremely helpful toward that end.
Shows produced by 20th Century Fox include “Modern Family,” “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons.”
Fox Regional Sports Networks
Disney, which already owns ESPN, will add 22 regional sports networks, including YES Network and Fox Sports West, to its roster.
Fox News Domestic and International cable channels
On the international side, Disney will be getting assets like Star India, a major media company, in addition to a host of other channels across countries including Mexico and Latin America.
Sky News
Disney will also come to own Fox’s 39.1% stake in Sky plc, which owns European satellite-TV and broadcaster Sky News.
Fox has been in talks to acquire all of Sky News, a deal that has been subject to intense regulatory scrutiny. If that deal is completed, Disney would eventually assume full ownership of Sky.
Stake in Hulu
This could be significant for Disney. Fox owns a 30% stake in the video on demand service, so the acquisition will give Disney’s Bob Iger a controlling 60% stake.