Cable company Comcast announced today that it will drop its bid to acquire 21st Century Fox. This clears the way for Disney to acquire properties like the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Deadpool, and even the original cuts of the Star Wars films. Instead, Comcast will continue to push for control of UK satellite broadcaster Sky.
Comcast said in a statement that it “does not intend to pursue further the acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox assets and instead will focus on our recommended offer for Sky.”
Comcast and Disney have been at odds over Fox’s assets for the last few months, one-upping each other’s bids. The most recent round of bids climbed up to $65 billion from Comcast and $71 billion from Disney. This all started late last year.
Comcast actually dropped its bid at one point, leading many – us included – to report that the merger between Fox and Disney was a done deal. Of course, this isn’t over just yet – shareholders are suing Fox to stop the merger.
Unless Comcast decides to make another offer, it sounds like this merger is happening. We’re hoping the shareholders will drop their suit once the competition is out of the way so that this battle can finally come to a close.
