Comcast Corp. is walking away from a hugely expensive takeover battle for 21st Century Fox with the Walter Disney Co. and will instead focus on buying European Sky satellite-TV business.
According to philly.com, the decision announced Thursday morning by Comcast came after Disney seemed willing to spend whatever it took to buy Fox — its current offer stands at $71 billion — while Rupert Murdoch seemed equally determined to sell the Fox entertainment empire to Disney, snubbing Comcast.
The Justice Department has said it will appeal a federal judge’s decision approving the AT&T/Time Warner deal, which could make future so-called vertical mergers difficult to pass regulatory muster.
Comcast’s decision seemed in harmony with the views of many analysts who hoped that Fox, Comcast, and Disney would back off a bidding war over Murdoch’s entertainment empire, with Comcast taking Sky for $34 billion and Disney taking the rest of the Fox entertainment assets for $71 billion. Those assets include Fox’s Hollywood studios, content library, cable channels, international networks, and 39 percent stake in Sky.
In a statement, Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts said, “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.”
But settling for Sky represents a comedown for Comcast, which is looking for ways to grow and compete with Netflix.
Sky is a business that many believe could be facing modest future growth in its core satellite-television business as Europeans look more to streaming entertainment.
Sky, based in the United Kingdom, has more than 20 million subscribers in several European countries, in addition to a content arm that includes Sky News.
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