Communications giant Comcast has offered Fox a whopping $65 billion and topped Disney's current offer of $52.4 billion, now putting the Disney-Fox merger on hold.
There'd been rumours for some time that Comcast - which is the corporate owners of Universal - were angling a bid for Fox, which includes 20th Century Fox, FX, and all the franchises and IPs they own, and planned to top Disney's offer. Per CNBC, Comcast is offering Fox a total of $35 a share in cash, with 100% of the shares the company left behind after the deal's done.
The assets that Comcast and Disney are looking to buy include the movie studios 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight, TV studios National Geographic and FX, India's Star TV, and stakes in Endemol and Hulu as well as a number of regional sports channels as well. On the movie side of things, the sale of 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight would represent a consolidation of the studio powers, and for Disney would bring the straggling Marvel properties fully under their eye.
In a letter sent to the shareholders of Fox and the Murdoch family, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said that "were disappointed when (Fox) decided to enter into a transaction with The Walt Disney Company, even though we had offered a meaningfully higher price."
As it stands, there's no word yet on what happens next and if Disney will match or top Comcast's offer.