Le Wall Street Journal annonce que les négociations entre Disney et la 21st Century FOX sont en voie d'être finalisées : une annonce sera faite avant la fin de l'année !
Comcast, Sony, et Verizon Communications figurent parmi les intéressés au rachat de la FOX, mais Disney a semble-t-il renforcé agressivement les négociations cette semaine.
Si le deal se conclut, Disney aura la main mise sur les studios cinématographiques et télévisuels de 20th Century FOX, la plateforme FX, National Geographic, la chaîne câblée Star India, 30% de Hulu, et 39% du satellite européen Sky.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-re- ... 1512239431Third_Eye a écrit:
Walt Disney Co. has re-engaged in discussions with 21st Century Fox FOX 2.67% to purchase some of the media giant’s assets, and Comcast Corp. CMCSA 4.92% remains in the mix, with deal talks gaining momentum, according to people familiar with the situation.
The talks center on the Twentieth Century Fox movie and TV studio, international assets such as Fox’s 39% holding in U.K. satellite TV provider Sky SKYAY 2.27% PLC and India’s Star TV, along with some U.S. cable networks. Fox News, the Fox broadcast network and sports network FS1 aren’t expected to be sold in any transaction, the people said.
Rupert Murdoch and his family, who hold 39% of 21st Century Fox’s voting shares, expect to make a decision by year’s end on whether to pursue a transaction, the people said.
Disney first reached out to 21st Century Fox about a possible deal several weeks ago, but the talks cooled after the two sides couldn’t agree on price, among other issues, people familiar with the matter have said.
Once news of those initial talks surfaced, other potential acquirers began emerging. Comcast, Sony Corp.’s entertainment unit, and Verizon Communications Inc., are among firms that have expressed various levels of interest, the people familiar with the situation say. The extent of discussions with Sony and Verizon is unclear. A top Verizon executive last week played down the need for the company to do a big content acquisition.
Disney and Comcast are in active talks with 21st Century Fox. It is possible the talks could fall through and a deal won’t be reached.
21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal-parent News Corp share common ownership.
The assets in play would give a buyer exposure to growth in international markets as the U.S. pay-TV industry reaches maturity.
With the Twentieth Century Fox studio, they would also get a premier Hollywood content factory and strengthen their position as media consumption shifts to digital platforms.
Also on the table in some of the discussions is Fox’s 30% stake in streaming service Hulu. Disney and Comcast each also own 30% of the company, so they could consolidate control by buying out Fox’s stake. Fox’s regional sports networks could also be sold off, the people familiar with the situation say.
The Fox deal talks are happening as another big media deal, AT&T Inc.’s proposed takeover of Time Warner Inc., is headed for court. The Justice Department has sued to block the transaction, arguing it will reduce competition and harm consumers. Some industry observers thought that any major media deal-making would be on hold as companies wait to see the result of that litigation.
A sale would mark a significant turn for 21st Century Fox, which has long been viewed as a potential buyer in the media industry, not a seller. Media companies across the board are considering new business models and strategic options as they confront a rapidly changing landscape, with consumers cutting the cable TV cord, big programming distributors flexing their muscles, and advertising revenue growth uncertain.
The remaining elements of Mr. Murdoch’s entertainment empire would be much smaller if an asset sale is completed.
But the entity would likely include some engines of growth. In the September quarter, results at 21st Century Fox were driven by the cable network group including Fox News and sports network FS1, which posted a 9% increase in operating income before depreciation and amortization. Revenue from monthly pay TV subscription fees continues to grow, in part because of higher prices.
Meanwhile, operating profit at Twentieth Century Fox fell 18% from a year earlier, as last year’s results were boosted by licensing deals.
Overall, Fox’s profit in the September period rose 4% to $855 million. Revenue rose 7.6% to $7 billion.
Autre article
Nouvelle actualité concernant les négociations entre la FOX et Disney !
La famille Murdoch, détentrice de la compagnie 21st Century FOX, a rejeté les offres des concurrents de Disney, et ne discute plus à présent qu'avec la célèbre souris !
Selon les Murdochs, Disney serait plus stratégique et moins contraignant.
Une déclaration sera faite avant la fin du mois de Décembre.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... dia-assetsCitation:
21st Century Fox Inc., the global film and TV company controlled by the Murdoch family, would prefer to sell some assets to Walt Disney Co. because it’s a better strategic fit and presents fewer regulatory hurdles, people familiar with the matter said.
The family is holding talks with Disney, as well as Comcast Corp., about combining certain media businesses with the potential buyers, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. The assets would include the 20th Century Fox film and TV studio and Fox’s stake in the U.K. pay-TV provider Sky Plc, they said. They don’t include Fox News, the Fox broadcast network or the Fox Sports 1 channel.
A deal could open the door for James Murdoch, Fox’s chief executive officer, to join Disney. The Murdochs aim to make a decision by the end of the year, the people said. Whether they pursue a transaction will depend on the price and structure, they said.
The Murdochs -- Rupert Murdoch, 86, and his sons James and Lachlan, Fox’s top officers -- are considering a sale as the market values the group below slower-growing peers. A deal would dramatically expand Disney’s global reach, giving the world’s largest entertainment company control of Sky, Star India and U.S. cable channels including FX and National Geographic.
Fox, based in New York, declined to comment. Disney, based in Burbank, California, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A deal would shuffle ownership of prized film and TV assets at a time when changing viewer habits are pressuring the television industry’s subscriber and advertising revenue. If an agreement is reached, Disney could also gain majority ownership of Hulu, an online streaming service that competes with Netflix.
As Fox’s CEO, James Murdoch has battled a series of scandals at the company, including sexual harassment allegations at the top of Fox News that have added regulatory scrutiny to the company’s 11.7 billion-pound ($15.8 billion) bid for the rest of Sky.
Authorities are considering the takeover’s potential impact on media plurality in Britain and whether Sky News would adhere to broadcasting standards under Fox ownership. Critics of Fox have appeared before the U.K.’s Competition & Markets Authority, bringing up concerns over a 2011 phone-hacking scandal at Murdoch-owned newspapers, which scuppered Fox’s first bid for Sky, and the harassment allegations at Fox News.
If Disney or another strategic bidder buys Fox’s 39 percent stake in Sky, it would trigger a mandatory offer for the rest under U.K. Takeover Panel rules, and would probably be approved quickly by regulators, analysts at UBS led by Polo Tang said Monday in a note.
Sky shares gained 2.8 percent to 956 pence on Monday, the highest close in three months, after reports about renewed talks with Disney. Fox was up as much as 5.7 percent, while Disney gained as much as 7.1 percent.
The Fox assets in play are worth almost $50 billion, according to Alan Gould, an analyst at Rosenblatt Securities Inc., and could translate into a 25 percent stake in Disney if they agree to a stock deal. That would potentially reduce the tax liability for Fox shareholders, including the Murdochs.
The talks are occurring against the backdrop of a U.S. Justice Department suit to block AT&T Inc.’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc. The government has said the merger of a large TV distributor and producer would stifle competition and hurt consumers.
A deal with Disney might overcome some of those challenges. Disney doesn’t sell TV services directly to consumers in the U.S. Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger has had success acquiring movie studios such as Pixar Animation and Lucasfilm Ltd. and a Fox deal could give Disney a controlling stake in the Hulu video-streaming service.
Edit:
Disney et la FOX finalisent les détails du rachat de la 20th Century FOX, une annonce officielle sera faite la semaine prochaine !
L'achat de 60 milliards de dollars (environ 50,7 milliards d'euros) concerne les studios TV (FOX, FOX TV Studios, et 20th Century FOX Television), les studios Cinéma (20th Century FOX, 20th Century Home Entertainment, FOX Searchlight, Blue Sky, et Endemol Shine Group), les services en ligne et à la demande (Sky, Star, et Hulu), et les chaînes câblées (National Geographic, et FX).
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/05/disney- ... urces.htmlCitation:
Disney and Twenty-First Century Fox are closing in on a deal, and it could come as soon as next week, according to sources familiar with the matter.
CNBC has been reporting that Disney has held talks with the Rupert Murdoch-controlled media company to acquire its studio and television production assets, leaving Fox with its news and sports assets. Fox is also talking with CNBC parent company Comcast, but the talks with Disney have progressed more significantly.
The deal contemplates the sale of Fox's Nat Geo, Star, regional sports networks, movie studios and stakes in Sky and Hulu, among other properties. What would remain at Fox includes its news and business news divisions, broadcast network and Fox sports.
The enterprise value of the Fox assets in the Disney deal is seen as above $60 billion, according to sources. Current Fox shareholders would get one share of the Fox company that remains after the movie and television assets are sold plus shares of Disney in a fixed exchange ratio.
Edit 2:
Le deal entre Disney et la 21st Century FOX est bien en finalisation, les banques de Disney étant en plein déblocage de fonds, pour une somme qui tourne à présent autours des 74 milliards de dollars !
Selon Variety, les banques JP Morgan et Guggenheim Partners, qui sont les banques principales de Disney, sont en pleines transactions avec les banques de la FOX, pour un montant avoisinant les 74 milliards de dollars.
Des sources de Variety provenant des banques annoncent que l'achat sera terminé avant Noël.
http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/disney ... 202634210/Citation:
More signs that Disney’s acquisition talks with 21st Century Fox are picking up steam: Both companies have set teams of bankers on the case to work out the fine print.
Disney is working with a group that includes JP Morgan and Guggenheim Partners. Both entities have long relationships with Disney.
Fox has Goldman Sachs and Centerview Partners crunching its numbers. Centerview is said to be focused on financial details related to the Fox assets that would not be part of the Disney acquisition. Goldman Sachs and Centerview previously advised Fox on its unsolicited $80 billion bid in 2014 for Time Warner, among other deals.
It is possible that a deal could be struck before Christmas, according to a source close to the matter.
Fox declined to comment. Disney reps did not return a call seeking comment.
Disney is negotiating a deal valued at $74 billion by Bernstein Research analyst Todd Juenger, which he calculated as a 30% premium on the $57.4 billion enterprise value of the assets in question. The assets on the table include the 20th Century Fox film and TV studio, the FX Networks, Nat Geo Channels group, 22 regional sports networks, Fox’s collection of international channels, including Star India, and its 39% stake in Sky. Staying behind would be Fox Broadcasting Co., the 28 Fox O&O TV stations and the national Fox Sports and Fox News operations.
Juenger predicts Disney would spend eventually another $20 billion or so to acquire the remaining stake in Sky. Fox, which owns 39%, is in the middle of trying to buyout Sky but has been held up by the U.K. regulatory review. Disney might have an easier passage through the U.K. approval process.
Like other analysts, Juenger notes that the willingness of the Murdochs to sell cornerstone chunks of the empire that Rupert Murdoch has built during the past half-century is a sobering signal about the trajectory of the traditional entertainment industry.
“Maybe the Murdochs have looked at the future and realized their business is a declining asset, worth more today than it ever will be in the future,” Juenger wrote. “So if you can sell it today, at a premium – do so.”
There’s also speculation about division in the Murdoch clan about the best course going forward. 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch is said to be eyeing a move to Disney if a deal transpires, possibly in the role of managing Sky, Star India and other international assets. Fox executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch is expected to stay on to run the remaining TV assets, which might be recombined under the News Corp. banner with the newspaper and publishing assets that were split off from Fox in 2013.
As for Disney, Juenger observed that the Fox deal is an enormous bet by Disney CEO Bob Iger that getting significantly bigger as a content producer will help it battle the larger issues facing traditional media.
“The businesses that Disney is buying have the same fundamental underlying challenges as all other TV-driven businesses, and the market is valuing them at similar or lower multiples than Disney’s,” Juenger wrote.
But at a time when “scale” is the buzzword for media investors, Disney could be the one old-school media behemoth with the muscle to grow in the face of heightened competition from new entrants such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook. Juenger likened the dynamic to the competition between Walmart and Amazon.
“Like all brick-and-mortars, Walmart is a victim of Amazon. But Walmart shares have performed extremely well recently, because the market has decided: Walmart is the last/biggest scale player left, Walmart now has a digital strategy, so Walmart will consolidate its power and accrue value,” the analyst wrote. “We think the potential analogy for Disney is obvious. Just insert ‘Netflix’ where we say ‘Amazon,’ and insert ‘Disney’ where we say ‘Walmart.’ ”