Comcast makes yet another massive counter-offer for 21st Century Fox

It looks Comcast is determined to not let Disney have things their way with recent plans for their acquisition of Fox. Just as it appeared the acquisition was about to settle with a Shareholder vote planned for early July, Comcast comes back with an even better offer hoping to appeal to shareholders in a big way. According to Variety, the media giant has reportedly made a $65 Billion all-cash bid for Fox, which is a huge jump from Disney’s current $52.4 billion bid.

This might not be what fans would’ve wanted to hear as a successful Disney/Fox deal means Marvel regaining the rights to X-Men and Fantastic Four, but at the end of the day it is money that talks the most to shareholders and not the dreams of geeks and fans, so it will be interesting to see exactly how Fox shareholders respond to this new offer. What is interesting to note is how Comcast is continuing to go down the all-cash route with their offers as opposed to Disney’s mostly stock offering.

While cash on the surface certainly sounds most appealing and allows shareholders to make an immediate fortune out of the deal, Disney’s stock offering is also quite clever as it keeps their balance sheet a lot healthier while also offering the new shareholders a greater future return on investment as the company is likely to only get bigger from there and its stock price likely only climb further. I definitely feel like this Disney’s bid makes the most logical sense, as the current cash difference in offers could potentially be made back many times over.

Sadly, I’m not in a position to make any decisions around this though (one can dream) and it will be left to the Fox shareholders to decide if they want to make some quick gains or longer-term ones instead. It has been reported though that Fox execs are still leaning towards Disney and have asked their shareholders to do the same. I still think that’s the right choice, but I’m pretty sure the Comcast bid is going to be a lot more appealing now as well. As a result of this offer, the planned July 10 shareholder meeting may be delayed now to give Fox more time to weigh up their options, but that also gives Disney some time to counter Comcast’s counter.

If things don’t work out for Comcast, however, I am available for outright purchase should they need and will happily accept cash offers of that magnitude. Heck, Comcast you can offer me just 1% of that bid and I’ll probably accept to be your slave. Let me get the paperwork started.

Last Updated: June 14, 2018