Comcast Confirms Plan To Counter Disney With Richer, All-Cash Offer For Fox

Comcast Confirms Plan To Counter Disney With Richer, All-Cash Offer For Fox

It’s on. Comcast this morning confirmed its plan to make a rich counter-offer for the 21st Century Fox assets that Disney has proposed to acquire.

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As many in the media business and on Wall Street had been predicting since word surfaced of Comcast meeting with bankers to line up financing, the NBCUniversal owner and No. 1 U.S. cable distributor says it is ready to enter the fray. The trigger for this morning’s announcement, Comcast said, was the filing of SEC documents in preparation for special shareholder meetings. The summer meetings are when 21st Century Fox and Disney shareholders are expected to vote on the proposed $52.4 billion acquisition of the Fox assets.

Comcast’s bid is said to be in the $60 billion range. The company did not specify a price in today’s statement. The assets on the table include everything under the Murdoch tent except for the Fox broadcast network, Fox News and the company’s portfolio of local TV stations. That means the TV and film studio and a lucrative set of cable networks, including FX and regional sports networks.

In the statement, Comcast said it “confirms that it is considering, and is in advanced stages of preparing, an offer for the businesses that Fox has agreed to sell to Disney.” While the company said that “no final decision has been made,” it said that “any offer for Fox would be all-cash and at a premium to the value of the current all-share offer from Disney.” Comcast said, “the work to finance the all-cash offer and make the key regulatory filings is well advanced.”

The statement added, “The structure and terms of any offer by Comcast, including with respect to both the spin-off of “New Fox” and the regulatory risk provisions and the related termination fee, would be at least as favorable to Fox shareholders as the Disney offer.”

Comcast had entered the bidding for Fox’s studio assets last fall before Disney set its plan with Fox in December. While the company has sound fundamentals, many financial analysts have questioned its strategy of going all-in for Fox given the amount of debt it would have to take on. The company has also recently thrown its hat in the ring for European pay-TV giant Sky.

The M&A derby just keeps getting more and more energetic. By the closing bell, there are bound to be many more twists and turns to report.