Disney Gets Green Light to Buy Fox Assets

Shareholders of Walt Disney Company and Twenty-First Century Fox have approved a deal to allow Disney to buy Fox’s assets for $71.3 billion.

The acquisition will give Disney control over Rupert Murdoch’s Fox’s entertainment properties as well as a 39% stake in Sky TV.

Two separate shareholders’ meetings, which were the final steps in approving the merger, had been held on Friday. Disney had already won U.S. antitrust approval back in June, on the condition that it would sell Fox’s sports regional networks.

“Combining the 21CF businesses with Disney and establishing new ‘Fox’ will unlock significant value for our shareholders,” 21st Century Fox executive chairman Rupert Murdoch stated.

He added, “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 preeminent in the entertainment and media industries.”

“We remain grateful to Rupert Murdoch and to the rest of the 21st Century Fox board for entrusting us with the future of these extraordinary businesses, and look forward to welcoming 21st Century Fox’s stellar talent to Disney and ultimately integrating our businesses to provide consumers around the world with more appealing content and entertainment options,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) nor Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (NASDAQ: FOXA) and have not been compensated for this article.