Watch your tail, Mickey: Comcast just swooped in with $10.8 billion — or 19 percent — more for 21st Century Fox assets than Disney’s accepted offer.
But that’s not all Brian L. Roberts & co. is willing to fork over for Fox to reconsider its sale to Bob Iger’s mass-media corporation.
First, there is the same insurance policy that Disney offered Fox. If Fox picks Comcast over Disney and their merger doesn’t go through, the 21st Century company gets $2.5 billion dollars.
Additionally, Comcast will cover what Fox is on the hook for should it dump Disney — and that’s not exactly chump change either.
“We will also agree to reimburse 21CF for the $1.525 billion break-up fee required to be paid to Disney in connection with termination of the Disney transaction and entry into a merger agreement with us,” Comcast wrote in its official pitch to the Murdoch Family and Fox’s shareholders.
That’s important because if Fox says thanks but no thanks to Disney, the FX parent owes the ABC owner more than a billion and-a-half dollars for their troubles. Comcast says it’ll foot that bill, too.
On Wednesday, Comcast formally submitted a $65 billion all-cash bid for much of 21st Century Fox. That exceeds the $52.4 billion stock deal Fox accepted from Disney back in December.
Now that the Department of Justice’s arguments against the even-bigger AT&T-Time Warner merger have been tossed out, the runway has been cleared for more mega-media consolidation — and Fox is currently the belle of the ball, all dolled up for a bidding war.
Your move, shareholders.