Comcast confirmed today (Wednesday) that it is “in the advanced stages of preparing” an all-cash offer for a significant share of rival US media company 21st Century Fox’s business assets, challenging a deal struck in December between the latter and media giant Walt Disney.
Comcast said that although “no final decision has been made” on the takeover bid, “at this point the work to finance the all-cash offer and make the key regulatory filings is well advanced”.
Comcast added that any offer would be at a premium to the value of the current $52bn (€44bn) all-share offer from Disney.
“The structure and terms of any offer by Comcast, including with respect to both the spin-off of ‘New Fox’ and the regulatory risk provisions and the related termination fee, would be at least as favourable to Fox shareholders as the Disney offer,” Comcast said.
Comcast confirmed that the offer would be for the businesses that Fox had agreed to sell to Disney late last year.
Fox and Disney have submitted filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in preparation for their upcoming shareholder meetings to consider the transaction. The deal agreed by Disney was set to lead ultimately to the company securing control of Sky, a major sports broadcaster in Europe, and media company Star India, among other assets.
However, earlier this month, the Reuters news agency reported that Comcast had asked investment banks to increase a bridge financing facility by up to $60bn in order to make a counter-offer.
According to reports, Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts only plans to press ahead with the bid if telco AT&T’s $85bn takeover of media company Time Warner is allowed to proceed, with the US Department of Justice having opposed the deal due to antitrust concerns. A US District Court is due to make a decision in June.
Comcast has also made a $30bn offer to acquire the 61 per cent of Sky that Fox does not own, attempting to gazump an earlier offer by Fox to seize complete control of the broadcaster.
Sky has premium rights to a number of major properties in the UK, Germany, Austria and Italy. In the UK, it has been the primary domestic live rights-holder of football’s English Premier League since the launch of the competition in 1992.