In late 2017, it was announced that Disney was the top contender to purchase much of 20 Century Fox and it assets. Those assets include much of the Fox Entertainment division. And in that division, includes character rights of Marvel characters such as X-Men, Fantastic Four, and many other franchises and entertainment divisions. Disney ultimately won the bidding war with a whopping $52 Billion bid.
The one thing that stood in the way of making the Disney/Fox deal is a law. This law gives the government a chance to approve certain businesses to claim assets from other businesses. This law also has the chance to deny such action in order to prevent businesses from monopolizing. The estimated time was originally supposed to take 12-16 months as of December 2017.
Sadly, many fans have to wait just a while longer, as the deal for the Disney/Fox merger has been denied.
A statement has been made by Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger:
“It was a deal that was gargantuan in terms of business. Actions like this are a potential thing and we were very aware of it. It is unfortunate that this has occurred, however it leaves us with opportunities in many fields.”
Now that Disney has been denied the deal, this leaves a possible contender: Comcast.
Before the Disney Fox deal, Comcast had flirted with the idea of buying 21st Century Fox. In early 2017, Comcast started early talks with Fox to purchase entertainment resources. Early last month, rumors of Comcast getting in the way of the Disney Fox deal cropped up again. As reported, “Comcast is considering making another bid for Fox, after its initial bid was rejected by the company. Comcast’s original bid, which was in the low $60 billion range, was reportedly higher than Disney’s by 15% but Fox turned it down over antitrust concerns.”
So what does this mean for the Disney Fox deal? It’s hard to say, but Comcast has muddied the waters a bit. Disney now has to mull its options. No matter what the outcome, though, it seems Disney’s plans didn’t work out as smoothly as many had hoped. Will Comcast take the torch and claim what Disney couldn’t? We’ll find out soon enough.
And on that note, we want to wish everyone who reads this a Happy Easter and a very merry April Fools Day!
