Wired News – Comcast Ups the Ante With a $65 Billion Cash Offer for Twenty-First Century Fox
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / June 18, 2018 / If you want access to our free research report on Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), all you need to do is sign up now by clicking the following link www.active-investors.com/registration-sg/?symbol=CMCSA as the Company's latest news hit the wire. On June 13, 2018, the Company announced that it is making a superior offer to acquire all businesses of Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (NASDAQ: FOX) ("FOX"). The equity value of the Comcast's offer is approximately $65 billion. Register today and get access to over 1,000 Free Research Reports by joining our site below:
www.active-investors.com/registration-sg
Active-Investors.com is focused on giving you timely information and the inside line on companies that matter to you. This morning, Comcast and Twenty-First Century Fox most recent news is on our radar and our team decided to put out a fantastic report on the company that is now available for free below:
www.active-investors.com/registration-sg/?symbol=CMCSA
www.active-investors.com/registration-sg/?symbol=FOX
Commenting on the superior offer for FOX, Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast stated:
"In light of yesterday's decision in the AT&T/Time Warner case, the limited time prior to your shareholders' meeting, and our strong continued interest, we are pleased to present a new, all-cash proposal that fully addresses the Board's stated concerns with our prior proposal."
Comcast's all-cash offer is nearly $10 billion higher than The Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE:DIS) all-stock offer of approximately $52.4 billion for FOX's businesses. Disney signed an agreement to acquire FOX in December 2017 after FOX decided to spinoff some of its businesses into a new Company. FOX's businesses include the Twentieth Century Fox Film and Television studios, cable, and international TV businesses. FOX's divested businesses include Fox Broadcasting network and stations including Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FOX Sports, FS1, FS2 and Big Ten Network into a newly listed Company (new FOX). FOX has agreed to complete the divestment before completing the Disney-FOX merger.
Key details of the superior offer
Comcast sent the new proposal to FOX's Board for consideration. Comcast's offer of $35 in cash for each of FOX's share is at a 19% premium to Disney's all-stock offer for FOX. The new proposal addresses some of FOX Board's major concerns including divestments due to regulatory requirement, tax costs, and termination fee.
Comcast has ensured that its offer matches that of Disney's terms. This includes the commitment to divest any of FOX's RSNs (Regional Sports Networks) and related tax obligations resulting from the divestitures. Comcast has also agreed to the same reverse termination fee of $2.5 billion which was offered by Disney if the transaction fails for not getting requisite regulatory approvals. Additionally, Comcast has also offered to pay the breakup fees of $1.525 billion to Disney if FOX terminates its agreement with Disney and enters into an agreement with Comcast.
Comcast has also agreed to the extensive behavioral restrictions as agreed by Disney and has also offered to litigate any action taken by the Department of Justice to block the transaction.
With regards to the deal to acquire Sky PLC, Comcast has clarified that it will continue to pursue the Sky deal parallel to the acquisition of FOX's businesses. Comcast has offered $31 billion (£22 billion) to acquire Sky in April 2018. The proposed agreement between Comcast and FOX will need to address the issue as per the regulations of UK City Code on Takeovers and Mergers.
Comcast is already preparing to finance the all-cash deal to acquire FOX and has received letters from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo, however the acquisition is not subject to a financing condition.
Comcast believes that FOX's Board should consider its all-cash deal as it is superior to Disney's offer and provides great value and liquidity to its shareholders. Comcast has sought a meeting with FOX's representatives at the earliest to finalize the deal.
Response from FOX
FOX acknowledged the receipt of Comcast's unsolicited superior offer of $35 in cash for each FOX's share. The Company's Board has said that it would be reviewing Comcast's offer in consultation with its legal and financial advisors. The Board is also considering adjourning or postposing the special shareholder's meeting scheduled on July 10, 2018, to consider the Disney-FOX merger.
Comcast's superior offer for FOX comes in immediately after the ruling by US District Judge Richard J. Leon on June 12, 2018, clearing the AT&T Inc.'s (NYSE: T) acquisition of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX). The AT&T-Time Warner deal announced in October 2016 was blocked by US Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division. Media reports in May 2018 had indicated that Comcast planned to make a $60 billion all-cash bid to beat Disney's offer of $52.4 billion to acquire FOX's businesses if the US government approved the AT&T-Time Warner deal.
With Comcast going all out to woo FOX, the onus falls on Disney to either match or exceed Comcast's current offer. Either ways, FOX's shareholders will greatly benefit from the Comcast-Disney bidding war for FOX's businesses. Since FOX has scheduled the special shareholder's meeting to decide on the Disney-FOX deal on July 10, 2018, Disney will need to take immediate steps if it wants to complete the acquisition of FOX's businesses.
Stock Performance Snapshot
June 15, 2018 - At Friday's closing bell, Comcast's stock slightly rose 0.18%, ending the trading session at $33.88.
Volume traded for the day: 52.95 million shares, which was above the 3-month average volume of 27.50 million shares.
Stock performance in the last month – up 4.09%
After last Friday's close, Comcast's market cap was at $156.83 billion.
Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio was at 15.39.
The stock has a dividend yield of 2.24%.
The stock is part of the Services sector, categorized under the Entertainment - Diversified industry. This sector was up 0.1% at the end of the session.
Active-Investors:
Active-Investors (A-I) produces regular sponsored and non-sponsored reports, articles, stock market blogs, and popular investment newsletters covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and Canadian stocks. A-I has two distinct and independent departments. One department produces non-sponsored analyst certified content generally in the form of press releases, articles and reports covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and the other produces sponsored content (in most cases not reviewed by a registered analyst), which typically consists of compensated investment newsletters, articles and reports covering listed stocks and micro-caps. Such sponsored content is outside the scope of procedures detailed below.
A-I has not been compensated; directly or indirectly; for producing or publishing this document.
PRESS RELEASE PROCEDURES:
The non-sponsored content contained herein has been prepared by a writer (the "Author") and is fact checked and reviewed by a third-party research service company (the "Reviewer") represented by a credentialed financial analyst [for further information on analyst credentials, please email info@active-investors.com. Rohit Tuli, a CFA® charterholder (the "Sponsor"), provides necessary guidance in preparing the document templates. The Reviewer has reviewed and revised the content, as necessary, based on publicly available information which is believed to be reliable. Content is researched, written and reviewed on a reasonable-effort basis. The Reviewer has not performed any independent investigations or forensic audits to validate the information herein. The Reviewer has only independently reviewed the information provided by the Author according to the procedures outlined by A-I. A-I is not entitled to veto or interfere in the application of such procedures by the third-party research service company to the articles, documents or reports, as the case may be. Unless otherwise noted, any content outside of this document has no association with the Author or the Reviewer in any way.
NO WARRANTY
A-I, the Author, and the Reviewer are not responsible for any error which may be occasioned at the time of printing of this document or any error, mistake or shortcoming. No liability is accepted whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential loss arising from the use of this document. A-I, the Author, and the Reviewer expressly disclaim any fiduciary responsibility or liability for any consequences, financial or otherwise arising from any reliance placed on the information in this document. Additionally, A-I, the Author, and the Reviewer do not (1) guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or correct sequencing of the information, or (2) warrant any results from use of the information. The included information is subject to change without notice.
NOT AN OFFERING
This document is not intended as an offering, recommendation, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities mentioned or discussed, and is to be used for informational purposes only. Please read all associated disclosures and disclaimers in full before investing. Neither A-I nor any party affiliated with us is a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer with any agency or in any jurisdiction whatsoever. To download our report(s), read our disclosures, or for more information, visit http://active-investors.com/legal-disclaimer/.
CONTACT
For any questions, inquiries, or comments reach out to us directly. If you're a company we are covering and wish to no longer feature on our coverage list contact us via email and/or phone between 09:30 EDT to 16:00 EDT from Monday to Friday at:
Email: info@active-investors.com
Phone number: 73 29 92 6381
Office Address: 6, Jalan Kia Peng, Kuala Lumpur, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.
SOURCE: Active-Investors
