News Disney and Fox come to terms -- announcement soon; huge IP acquisition

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Not sure I understand your response?

Disney and Fox News don’t align really on any level. Plus disney has a news division...

I would think disney is just below Comcast on the list of companies with the least desire to affiliate.

 

[bartholomr4]

So now we know that 'New Fox' will retain the Fox brand post spin-off. I suspect that means it is off the table for any of the remaining 21CF properties that will be part of 'New Disney'. I suspect they will keep FX branding but what will they do for the studios, keep 20Century no Fox? Or rename/rebrand the whole thing?

And it is good to see that Fox has started releasing official org leaders. That will start to help folks feel more confident in their futures as Disney starts doing the same.

I had been under the impression Disney would be acquiring the trademarks 21st Century Fox, and 20th Century Fox. I hadn't heard any talk of de-branding these assets. The acquisition started as a sale of the entire company (and brands) with the exception of assets which would be an issue from an anti-trust perspective. Those would be rolled into New-FOX, (i.e. not New 21CF).....

I thought Disney would keep these alive like Marvel, Lucas, Pixar, etc and these brands would survive (even though their would be confusion).... Sorta like the spin off of Time Warner Cable from Time Warner.... Both names survived (until TWC was acquired by Charter) and both were separate companies on the NYSE.

As long as there is "20th Century or 21st Century" infront of the FOX (with the search light logo included), I am thinking things will stay status quo, and at most "new assets" may be branded under another umbrella.... Have you seen something saying something different?

 

[Rodan75]

Disney and Fox News don’t align really on any level. Plus disney has a news division...

I would think disney is just below Comcast on the list of companies with the least desire to affiliate.

Still not sure I understand you. I'm not talking about Fox News. I'm just talking about what Disney plans to do with the branding for the brands it is picking up. 'New Fox' is keeping the Fox name as it's new company name.

 

[Rodan75]

I had been under the impression Disney would be acquiring the trademarks 21st Century Fox, and 20th Century Fox. I hadn't heard any talk of de-branding these assets. The acquisition started as a sale of the entire company (and brands) with the exception of assets which would be an issue from an anti-trust perspective. Those would be rolled into New-FOX, (i.e. not New 21CF).....

I thought Disney would keep these alive like Marvel, Lucas, Pixar, etc and these brands would survive (even though their would be confusion).... Sorta like the spin off of Time Warner Cable from Time Warner.... Both names survived (until TWC was acquired by Charter) and both were separate companies on the NYSE.

As long as there is "20th Century or 21st Century" infront of the FOX (with the search light logo included), I am thinking things will stay status quo, and at most "new assets" may be branded under another umbrella.... Have you seen something saying something different?

Yeah, I'm kinda torn. It does add some confusion to call it 20th Century Fox (or 21st Century Fox) for the primary studio, I'm sure Fox Searchlight becomes just Searchlight and Fox 2000 will get new branding entirely or just fold operations into another division. FX has name recognition separate from Fox that I'm sure that stays the same.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Still not sure I understand you. I'm not talking about Fox News. I'm just talking about what Disney plans to do with the branding for the brands it is picking up. 'New Fox' is keeping the Fox name as it's new company name.

You’re right...my bad

I thought you were asking if the news “assets” could be added to the deal...

As far as the searchlight logo goes...I don’t think they’d really want it...

It’s not like LFL or Marvek in my opinion...the Fox logo reminds more people of the studio/network than it ties to IP.

That’s just my take.

They should just make one decent Star Wars movie...distribute it as fox...they shut down the searchlight after the credits.

...but that’s me being selfish

 

[Rodan75]

None of those interfaces are as good as Netflix...Hulu is clunky as well.

Disneys best asset for steaming are the people at bammtech...just my opinion. They do great product for mlb and nhl

I actually find the Netflix interface pretty horrible these days. It hasn't kept pace with the amount of content they have delivered and is a mess. Discovery for items outside of your algorithm is pretty miserable. (Apple TV interface is my primary platform). In that environment I like the CBS All Access and Hulu interfaces better, but they have dramatically less content to sort.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I actually find the Netflix interface pretty horrible these days. It hasn't kept pace with the amount of content they have delivered and is a mess. Discovery for items outside of your algorithm is pretty miserable. (Apple TV interface is my primary platform). In that environment I like the CBS All Access and Hulu interfaces better, but they have dramatically less content to sort.

Valid points...Netflix has lagged a little in recent times when they have spent most of their time on solving ip costs...

My problem is that every device has a different setup. And Apple TV is bad...no doubt. LG is actually very good.

But I haven’t got cbs - to watch discovery - yet...but I’m gonna check it out soon.

 

[MisterPenguin]

21st Century Fox is the name of the corporate holding company that owns the subsidiaries of Fox News, Fox Sports, and the entertainment studios that fall under 20th Century Fox.

Murdoch plans to keep 21st Century Fox as the corporate holding company and Fox News and Fox Sports as subsidiaries.

Disney bought and owns 20th Century Fox (and FX, and NatGeo, et al.). Disney can do what they want with 20th Century Fox as a brand. Disney has zero interest in or rights to 21st Century Fox.

 

[Rodan75]

21st Century Fox is the name of the corporate holding company that owns the subsidiaries of Fox News, Fox Sports, and the entertainment studios that fall under 20th Century Fox.

Murdoch plans to keep 21st Century Fox as the corporate holding company and Fox News and Fox Sports as subsidiaries.

Disney bought and owns 20th Century Fox (and FX, and NatGeo, et al.). Disney can do what they want with 20th Century Fox as a brand. Disney has zero interest in or rights to 21st Century Fox.

So 'New Fox' is the 'SpinCo' of 21st CF, with the remainder being referred to as 'RemainCo' which is being acquired by 'New Disney'. The announcements today imply that the new name of the company will simply be Fox. Technically 21CF is going to Disney.

My question was originally about what do we see happening with Branding for the 20CF studios and anything else that bears the Fox name.

 

[bartholomr4]

21st Century Fox is the name of the corporate holding company that owns the subsidiaries of Fox News, Fox Sports, and the entertainment studios that fall under 20th Century Fox.

Murdoch plans to keep 21st Century Fox as the corporate holding company and Fox News and Fox Sports as subsidiaries.

Disney bought and owns 20th Century Fox (and FX, and NatGeo, et al.). Disney can do what they want with 20th Century Fox as a brand. Disney has zero interest in or rights to 21st Century Fox.

From the Proxy (page 1) dated June 29th" WDC Merger Enterprises II Inc, a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of New Disney, will be merged with and into 21CF and 21CF will continue as the surviving corporation, which we refer to as the 21CF merger, and together with the Disney Merger, the mergers. As a result of the mergers, Disney and 21CF will become direct wholly owned subsidiaries of New Disney which will be renamed "The Walt Disney Company" concurrently with the mergers."

Prior to the completion of the mergers, 21CF and a newly-formed subsidiary of 21CF, which we refer to as NEW FOX, will enter into a separation agreement, which we refer to as the separation agreement....... whereby it will transfer to NEW FOX a portfolio of 21CF's news, sports and broadcast businesses...... 21CF (now part of New Disney) will retain all assets and liabilities not transferred to NEW FOX........

Unless you have seen something I haven't, I don't think Murdoch is keeping 21CF as the corporate holding company..... I think Disney will own 21CF and all its brand assets not transferred specifically to NEW FOX.

 

[MisterPenguin]

So 'New Fox' is the 'SpinCo' of 21st CF, with the remainder being referred to as 'RemainCo' which is being acquired by 'New Disney'. The announcements today imply that the new name of the company will simply be Fox. Technically 21CF is going to Disney.

My question was originally about what do we see happening with Branding for the 20CF studios and anything else that bears the Fox name.

From the Proxy (page 1) dated June 29th" WDC Merger Enterprises II Inc, a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of New Disney, will be merged with and into 21CF and 21CF will continue as the surviving corporation, which we refer to as the 21CF merger, and together with the Disney Merger, the mergers. As a result of the mergers, Disney and 21CF will become direct wholly owned subsidiaries of New Disney which will be renamed "The Walt Disney Company" concurrently with the mergers."

Prior to the completion of the mergers, 21CF and a newly-formed subsidiary of 21CF, which we refer to as NEW FOX, will enter into a separation agreement, which we refer to as the separation agreement....... whereby it will transfer to NEW FOX a portfolio of 21CF's news, sports and broadcast businesses...... 21CF (now part of New Disney) will retain all assets and liabilities not transferred to NEW FOX........

Unless you have seen something I haven't, I don't think Murdoch is keeping 21CF as the corporate holding company..... I think Disney will own 21CF and all its brand assets not transferred specifically to NEW FOX.

Well, documentary evidence trumps pre-purchase news, then.

 

[bartholomr4]

From Bloomberg UK

Clinching the fourth largest corporate bond sale on record, Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has successfully borrowed $27B to fund its $39.7B acquisition of pan-European broadcaster Sky (OTCQX:SKYAY).

The U.S. cable group raised the funds across 12 tranches of floating- and fixed-rate bonds, ranging from two- to 40-year maturities, following a protracted takeover battle and high-stakes auction against Twenty-First Century Fox.

With Comcast Corp.’s 12-part, $27 billion jumbo bond offering on Tuesday to fund its acquisition of Sky Plc, the U.S. cable giant is on the path to joining a select group of companies with more than $100 billion of debt.

The remaining 12.7 billion in funds required to close the purchase of Sky will come from short-term borrowings (one year or less) or existing Cash balances.

Comcast will likely keep its A- and A3 credit grades from S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service, respectively, even after executing 2018’s second-biggest U.S. corporate borrowing and the fourth largest of all time. That defies the growing trend of companies willingly pushing their ratings to the lowest rungs of investment grade as they finance acquisitions or buy back shares.

 

[seascape]

Sinclair Broadcasting is clearly interested in buying the Fox RSNs as are several others. It is starting to look like 20 billion is reasonably what Disney will get and maybe more if a bidding war breaks out. Anyway using the 20 billion amount along with the 15.23 billion from Comcast means Disney will get 35.23 billion or just about 2 billion less than the cash portion of their Fox purchase. That means the total in new debt the company will be adding is 16 billion. Disney should be able to pay that off in 2 years and have a lower leverage ratio than they currently have or restore their stock buyback program and raise their dividend.

 

[Stripes]

Sinclair Broadcasting is clearly interested in buying the Fox RSNs as are several others. It is starting to look like 20 billion is reasonably what Disney will get and maybe more if a bidding war breaks out. Anyway using the 20 billion amount along with the 15.23 billion from Comcast means Disney will get 35.23 billion or just about 2 billion less than the cash portion of their Fox purchase. That means the total in new debt the company will be adding is 16 billion. Disney should be able to pay that off in 2 years and have a lower leverage ratio than they currently have or restore their stock buyback program and raise their dividend.

Yep. I don't see any reason this should negatively affect the parks in any significant way. Long-term I think the Fox purchase will be a massive boon for the parks and the company as a whole.

 

[Slov72]

Yep. I don't see any reason this should negatively affect the parks in any significant way. Long-term I think the Fox purchase will be a massive boon for the parks and the company as a whole.

Except for the current cut back and price hikes? I get the sense from our insiders that this is all related directly to making the quarterlies look good over the next 1.5 years until the DTC product launches.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Yeah, I'm kinda torn. It does add some confusion to call it 20th Century Fox (or 21st Century Fox) for the primary studio, I'm sure Fox Searchlight becomes just Searchlight and Fox 2000 will get new branding entirely or just fold operations into another division. FX has name recognition separate from Fox that I'm sure that stays the same.

Fox 2000 is a production company and hasn’t really had a consumer facing brand like Searchlight.

 

[ppete1975]

It sounds like they are touching on all of their sub-genre's of fans with the DTC offering. And they definitely have acquired the experience of running a DTC offering, plus they have Disney Life experience and Disney Now, ABC, ESPN+ etc experience as well. Not even including their experience with Hulu.

I think it is fair for them to feel confident in public about their experience in Streaming so far.

I think there are moments when your negativity about Iger veers into implausible. You can dislike his leadership, but he objectively has built experience in this space for Disney.

They totally have the library. The question is will they use it. Will It just be Disney.. or will they use espn and abc.
If they use ABC they have classic tv shows for binging.
Espn- classic content
we know they will use marvel and star wars for new and classic shows (I think they have been using Netflix the last few years to see what will work with marvel)
You have the universal content.
That right there would bring in a lot of people.
What would bring in the classic Disney?

All of the classic stuff but maybe cleaned up and digitized.
Grand opening of living seas-
Anniversary shows of the parks
Disneyland Tokyo opening
The classic live action movies of the 60s (snowball express anyone)
Walt Disney interviews
Wonderful world of disney
Wonderful world of color

you bring that stuff in and I promise you have opened up a group of people that might not even get Netflix.

But its all in how they implement it.

 

[ppete1975]

From Bloomberg UK

Clinching the fourth largest corporate bond sale on record, Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has successfully borrowed $27B to fund its $39.7B acquisition of pan-European broadcaster Sky (OTCQX:SKYAY).

The U.S. cable group raised the funds across 12 tranches of floating- and fixed-rate bonds, ranging from two- to 40-year maturities, following a protracted takeover battle and high-stakes auction against Twenty-First Century Fox.

With Comcast Corp.’s 12-part, $27 billion jumbo bond offering on Tuesday to fund its acquisition of Sky Plc, the U.S. cable giant is on the path to joining a select group of companies with more than $100 billion of debt.

The remaining 12.7 billion in funds required to close the purchase of Sky will come from short-term borrowings (one year or less) or existing Cash balances.

Comcast will likely keep its A- and A3 credit grades from S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service, respectively, even after executing 2018’s second-biggest U.S. corporate borrowing and the fourth largest of all time. That defies the growing trend of companies willingly pushing their ratings to the lowest rungs of investment grade as they finance acquisitions or buy back shares.

you have a cute puppy

 

[Indy_UK]

Sinclair Broadcasting is clearly interested in buying the Fox RSNs as are several others. It is starting to look like 20 billion is reasonably what Disney will get and maybe more if a bidding war breaks out. Anyway using the 20 billion amount along with the 15.23 billion from Comcast means Disney will get 35.23 billion or just about 2 billion less than the cash portion of their Fox purchase. That means the total in new debt the company will be adding is 16 billion. Disney should be able to pay that off in 2 years and have a lower leverage ratio than they currently have or restore their stock buyback program and raise their dividend.

Turns out to have been a pretty good deal for Disney then. They really need to capitalise in the IP.

I'm sure Igor has singled out the Kingsman films. You know that's going to become Disneys own James Bond for the families.

 

[Stripes]

Except for the current cut back and price hikes? I get the sense from our insiders that this is all related directly to making the quarterlies look good over the next 1.5 years until the DTC product launches.

I think that has more to do with people holding back trips till Star Wars opens than it has to do with Fox.