Separately, activist investor and Fox shareholder Chris Hohn said he would back a Comcast bid over the current deal with Disney, the investor told Rupert Murdoch in a private letter Wednesday in which he urged the media mogul to engage with Comcast on a deal.
Mr. Hohn disclosed he owned a 7.4% stake in Fox, larger than previously known, and said he was unconcerned about regulatory risk from closing a Comcast-Fox deal, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Fox didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Contacted by phone, Mr. Hohn said the letter is meant to guarantee that Comcast is given a fair chance to bid against Disney for the Fox assets. He said his firm, TCI Fund Management,“is willing to fight to ensure there is a full and fair auction for Fox” and that “no obstacle should stand in the way.”
Comcast has been contemplating a renewed pursuit of Fox’s assets since the deal with Disney was announced in December at a lower price than Comcast had offered. For both Comcast and Disney, the pursuit of Fox is a gambit to better compete against Netflix Inc. and other global tech giants as the American pay-TV landscape comes under pressure.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/comcas...entury-fox-threatening-disney-deal-1527078344