USA: 21st Century Fox and Disney Stockholders Approve Acquisition Deal
© © The Walt Disney Company
21st Century Fox (21CF) and The Walt Disney Company (Disney) announced that stockholders of the two companies approved all proposals related to Disney’s planned acquisition of 21st Century Fox (cp. EAP news from December 15th, 2017). Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice had entered into a consent decree with both companies allowing the transaction to proceed, while requiring the sale of the Fox Sports Regional Networks. Co-bidder company Comcast, which was also interested in acquiring important assets of the “Fox Empire”, has withdrawn from its offer days ago, after Disney had increased its bid to a total of 71.3 billion US Dollars (approx. 60.9 billion Euros).
“Combining the 21CF businesses with Disney and establishing ‘New Fox’ will unlock significant value for our shareholders,” said Rupert Murdoch, Executive Chairman, 21st Century Fox. “We are grateful to our shareholders for approving this transaction. I want to thank all of our executives and colleagues for their enormous contributions in building 21st Century Fox over the past decades. With their help, we expect the enlarged Disney and new Fox companies will be pre-eminent in the entertainment and media industries,” Murdoch added.
“We’re incredibly pleased that shareholders of both companies have granted approval for us to move forward, and are confident in our ability to create significant long-term value through this acquisition of Fox’s premier assets […],” commented Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company.
Under the Disney Merger Agreement, 21st Century Fox stockholders may elect to receive 38 US Dollars (approx. 32 Euros) per share in either cash or shares of New Disney, a new holding company that is set to become the parent of both Disney and 21st Century Fox.
Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of non-U.S. merger and other regulatory reviews, and other customary closing conditions. (eap)
