In the immortal words of Kenny Rogers, “ya gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em”. That’s exactly what Comcast is doing as they seem to know when to walk away, as Disney counts it’s money, sitting at the table.
In a statement, Comcast officially dropped out of the bid for Fox and will instead put focus on the European Satellite TV provider- Sky.
“Comcast does not intend to pursue further the acquisition of the Twenty-First Century Fox assets and, instead, will focus on our recommended offer for Sky,” the company said in a statement Thursday. Disney and Fox have agreed to a $71.3 billion deal that would have the California entertainment giant take control of the bulk of Fox’s assets, including the FX and Nat Geo cable netwoks, the 20th Century Fox film studio and Fox’s stake in the video-streaming site Hulu.
Brian L. Roberts, Comcast chairman-CEO, added: “I’d like to congratulate Bob Iger and the team at Disney and commend the Murdoch family and Fox for creating such a desirable and respected company.”
Sky seems to be the bigger asset here for Fox and Comcast as it would widen its broadcast range into much of Europe. If Comcast gains control over Sky, it would be a big knock for Disney, who is looking at pushing Fox to get the remaining 61% of Sky thatit doesn’t own. A deal with Comcast could hinder the price of the Disney deal.
Disney and Fox already has the approval of the Justice Department, which was seen as a huge hurdle. While the deal now seems all but done, shareholders still must vote on the deal and there’s still a lawsuit to contend with by one of the shareholders.
Stay tuned as we follow this story and all the developments.
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