All yours, Disney: Comcast has taken itself out of the running for Fox. As a matter of fact, the NBCUniversal parent company says it never even made the Murdoch Family-led corporation “a definitive offer.”
“When a set of assets like Fox’s becomes available, it is our responsibility to evaluate if there is a strategic fit that could benefit our company and our shareholders,” Comcast told Reuters in a statement. “That is what we tried to do and we are no longer engaged in the review of those assets. We never got the level of engagement needed to make a definitive offer.”
They did get somewhere, however. Last month, Comcast approached 21st Century Fox to discuss a potential acquisition, per CNBC. That’s when the Walt Disney Company stepped in.
Comcast’s statement publicly paves the way for Disney to take much of Fox over, which CNBC reports could happen this week. Under the terms of the looming deal, the Mouse House would not acquire Fox broadcast network, Fox News or Fox Sports. Mickey would get pretty much everything else, however, including the 20th Century Fox studio and valuable regional sports networks.
NBCU parent Comcast did not immediately respond to TheWrap‘s request for comment on this story.