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

[bartholomr4]

BURBANK, Calif. & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Walt Disney Company (“Disney”) (NYSE: DIS) and Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (“21CF”) (NASDAQ: FOXA, FOX), in connection with Disney’s acquisition of 21CF (the “Acquisition”), announced today that the deadline for holders of 21CF common stock to elect the form of consideration they wish to receive in the Acquisition will be at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on March 14, 2019 (the “Election Deadline”). In addition, Disney and 21CF announced that they expect 21CF to distribute, at approximately 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on March 19, 2019 all issued and outstanding shares of Fox Corporation common stock to 21CF stockholders (other than holders of the shares held by subsidiaries of 21CF) on a pro rata basis and for the Acquisition to become effective at 12:02 a.m. Eastern Time on March 20, 2019.

 

[AnotherDayAnotherDollar]

Disney, Fox set March 20 closing for $71B media-asset deal

Walt Disney (DIS) and Twenty-First Century Fox (FOX) have set an anticipated closing of March 20 just after midnight for their transformative $71B...

seekingalpha.com

Disney, Fox set March 20 closing for $71B media-asset deal
Mar. 12, 2019 9:11 AM ET|About: The Walt Disney Company (DIS)|By: Jason Aycock, SA News Editor


Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) and Twenty-First Century Fox (FOX) have set an anticipated closing of March 20 just after midnight for their transformative $71B media-asset deal.

The companies said they expected Fox to distribute all issued and outstanding common shares of Fox Corp. to the 21CF shareholders at about 8 a.m. ET on March 19 on a pro rata basis, and that the acquisition (in which Disney gets Fox's entertainment assets) would then be effective at 12:02 a.m. ET on March 20.

The deadline for holders of 21CF common stock to elect the form of consideration they wish to receive in the acquisition will be 5 p.m. ET on March 14.

Premarket: DIS +0.1%; FOX +0.1%; FOXA +0.2%.

 

[DisneyJayL]

Talk to me on March 30th when everything is finalized.

 

[mab7689]

Exciting to think that something I, and probably most of the other contributors to this thread, have followed religiously for 16 months is now 8 days from completion.

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...s-closer-as-mexico-said-to-approve-with-terms

 

[Darkprime]

Its been a crazy 15 months but we got there!! Following each and every approval. The X-Men and Fantastic Four are coming home!!

 

[Darkprime]

Closing date just announced for March 20th!

https://www.21cf.com/news/21st-cent...ine-for-form-of-consideration-in-acquisition/

So should we expect an in-depth interview laying out some of their plans for Fox with CNBC on the 20th?

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

Its been a crazy 15 months but we got there!! Following each and every approval. The X-Men and Fantastic Four are coming home!!

More like 3 years.

 

[mab7689]

I'm looking forward to seeing Star Wars Episode 1-6, X-Men and Fantastic Four consolidated back where they belong.

 

[seascape]

Now that the merger has received final regulatory approval. The next piece of the puzzle besides the assest sales, is to announce the deal to buy AT&T's 10% of HULU. Disney is about to grow faster than anyone imagined.

 

[Slpy3270]

So the deal is closing nine days before no-deal Brexit is triggered (let's face it, no-deal Brexit is happening because everyone in Parliament is brain-dead and indifferent to the social consequences of it) that will send the UK economy into a death spiral and affect Disney's broadcasting licenses in Europe.

If I were a Disney investor (which, I am, lol), I'd better hope Disney is prepared for the economic shock that will greatly effect the international rollout of the deal.

Now that the merger has received final regulatory approval. The next piece of the puzzle besides the assest sales, is to announce the deal to buy AT&T's 10% of HULU. Disney is about to grow faster than anyone imagined.

That assumes a) the RSN, Mexico and Brazilian (and presumably Chilean, unless noted otherwise) sports channels and A&E Europe stakes sales go well, and B) we don't get a recession next year, which we're 99% likely to get.

 

[brodie999]

Now that the merger has received final regulatory approval. The next piece of the puzzle besides the assest sales, is to announce the deal to buy AT&T's 10% of HULU. Disney is about to grow faster than anyone imagined.

I agree. Now that the Disney-Fox deal is closing after 15 months, I wonder which company they'll buy next. I'd picture them buying Sony in the next year or 2. They want their characters back. So It'd be shocking to see the Big 6 studios become 4 with both Sony and Fox under the Disney banner.

 

[mikejs78]

we don't get a recession next year, which we're 99% likely to get.

That's a pretty bold prediction....

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

I agree. Now that the Disney-Fox deal is closing after 15 months, I wonder which company they'll buy next. I'd picture them buying Sony in the next year or 2. They want their characters back. So It'd be shocking to see the Big 6 studios become 4 with both Sony and Fox under the Disney banner.

You mean five if you count Netflix in the MPAA.

 

[Darkprime]

Disney are most likely going to sell the RSN's at a loss for a quick sale they sold yes network for $3.5 billion but apparently wanted closer to $5-6 billion.

 

[Slpy3270]

Disney are most likely going to sell the RSN's at a loss for a quick sale they sold yes network for $3.5 billion but apparently wanted closer to $5-6 billion.

At the very least, the sale of the Mexico, Brazilian and Chilean Fox Sports networks could lessen that loss, especially since Disney didn't plan on selling those off anyhow (AFAIK, the rest of the Latin American Fox Sports channels and feeds aren't affected by the divestiture).

The big wild cards are what happens to A&E Europe and Endemol Shine. If Hearst buys Disney's share in the former as rumored, it could set up a potential sale of all of A&E Networks to Hearst since National Geographic will more or less displace them as Disney's lifestyle channels (plus Disney turning the tables and buying Hearst's stake would've led to antitrust concerns due to the number of channels Disney will already have post-acquisition).

Endemol Shine, meanwhile, was supposed to be sold months ago before the EU approved the deal, but now that sale is off and nobody knows what Disney plans to do with their half-stake. Unless they can live with having reality shows and game shows (they already have some of the latter, i.e. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? US, Win, Lose or Draw, and Win Ben Stein's Money, etc.) in their portfolio, I see no reason they'll buy Apollo's 50% stake from them. However, it'll be even more difficult for them to sell if no-deal Brexit destroys the viability of no-deal Brexit makes a sale for a decent price impossible.

 

[Darkprime]

Dont know if you saw my post a couple pages back but Ice Cube has secured funding to bid on the RSN's thought that was interesting.

 

[Darkprime]

At the very least, the sale of the Mexico, Brazilian and Chilean Fox Sports networks could lessen that loss, especially since Disney didn't plan on selling those off anyhow (AFAIK, the rest of the Latin American Fox Sports channels and feeds aren't affected by the divestiture).

The big wild cards are what happens to A&E Europe and Endemol Shine. If Hearst buys Disney's share in the former as rumored, it could set up a potential sale of all of A&E Networks to Hearst since National Geographic will more or less displace them as Disney's lifestyle channels (plus Disney turning the tables and buying Hearst's stake would've led to antitrust concerns due to the number of channels Disney will already have post-acquisition).

Endemol Shine, meanwhile, was supposed to be sold months ago before the EU approved the deal, but now that sale is off and nobody knows what Disney plans to do with their half-stake. Unless they can live with having reality shows and game shows (they already have some of the latter, i.e. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? US, Win, Lose or Draw, and Win Ben Stein's Money, etc.) in their portfolio, I see no reason they'll buy Apollo's 50% stake from them. However, it'll be even more difficult for them to sell if no-deal Brexit destroys the viability of no-deal Brexit makes a sale for a decent price impossible.

Maybe Disney offers Sony Endemol at a discount for more control over Spider-Man?

 

[AnotherDayAnotherDollar]

The big wild cards are what happens to A&E Europe and Endemol Shine. If Hearst buys Disney's share in the former as rumored, it could set up a potential sale of all of A&E Networks to Hearst since National Geographic will more or less displace them as Disney's lifestyle channels (plus Disney turning the tables and buying Hearst's stake would've led to antitrust concerns due to the number of channels Disney will already have post-acquisition).

On this, I remember a talk at that time that could involve Disney getting ESPN equity for their A&E share, so it may be a sum zero game where they don't really get any cash out of this sale, but equity in ESPN instead.

Endemol Shine, meanwhile, was supposed to be sold months ago before the EU approved the deal, but now that sale is off and nobody knows what Disney plans to do with their half-stake. Unless they can live with having reality shows and game shows (they already have some of the latter, i.e. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? US, Win, Lose or Draw, and Win Ben Stein's Money, etc.) in their portfolio, I see no reason they'll buy Apollo's 50% stake from them. However, it'll be even more difficult for them to sell if no-deal Brexit destroys the viability of no-deal Brexit makes a sale for a decent price impossible.

If the future is as dire as you are believing, then they would be better off holding onto Endemol until a better time to sell. Otherwise Disney seemed ambivalent towards Endemol and Apollo wanted to sell as well. It's all bout getting the right price.

 

[Darkprime]

NO SONY NO! 7 YEARS OF BAD SONY SPIDER-MAN SPIN-OFFS UGH.

“We have the next seven or eight years laid out as to what we’re going to do with that asset, and that will not only be on the film side — it’ll be on the TV side,” says Vinciquerra. “Our television group will have its own set of characters from within that universe that we will seek to develop.”

Inside Mike Hopkins’ Fiercely Independent Strategy for Sony Pictures Television

In an era of vertical integration, Mike Hopkins is plotting a fiercely independent strategy for Sony Pictures Television.

variety.com