According to CNBC, Comcast has approached 21st Century Fox and expressed interest in acquiring some of their key assets to include their movie and TV studios as well as select cable networks.
This news comes merely a week after the media world was rocked by reports of talks Disney had with Fox in recent weeks regarding the acquisition of the same set of assets. Those talks reportedly broke down fairly quickly over the cost issues, but the mere fact that the Murdochs would even entertain such an offer at all may have resulted in Fox turning into an acquisition target. CNBC reported Friday that while the Disney and Fox talks were not ongoing, a deal was not totally dead.
U.S. rules state that one company can not own two broadcast networks due to antitrust laws, so neither Comcast or Disney would be able to acquire all of Fox – Fox’s news and sports programming would have to be left off of any deal made. Neither company is talking about purchasing all of Fox, according to CNBC’s report.
“Fox shares jumped more than 6 percent in after-hours trading. Comcast shares rose about 0.75 percent, while Disney shares were mildly lower. Verizon Communications is also interested in acquiring parts of Fox, Dow Jones reported after the bell Thursday.”
Source: CNBC
