UPDATE: Following the news that AT&T’s proposed Time Warner merger has been approved, Comcast has now launched a whopping $65 billion dollar all-cash bid to acquire Fox’s film and TV assets. Disney’s bid currently stands at $52.4 billion in stocks, and it is said that the Mouse House has five days to make another offer.
Original story follows…
Back in December it was announced that The Walt Disney Company had agreed a deal to acquire 20th Century Fox’s film and TV assets in a bumper stock-based deal worth $52.4 billion.
This would – among other things – enable Marvel Studios to introduce the X-Men and Fantastic Four into its Marvel Cinematic Universe, but fans may not want to get too excited just yet, as it is being reported that Comcast – the major stakeholder in NBCUniversal – is looking to scupper the deal with a superior, all-cash bid.
“[Rupert Murdoch], like his shareholders, are now fully aligned and simply want the best possible outcome, meaning the most dollars, whether that’s cash or cash and stock,” Wall Street analyst Rich Greenfield tells Cheddar. “Rupert Murdoch is not set on selling to Disney. There’s a real opening for Comcast to come in with a very significant premium bid to where Disney is now.”
If Comcast is successful in acquiring the Fox library, it is of course possible that Disney and Marvel may be able to acquire the specific X-Men and Fantastic Four rights direct from Comcast. That being said, Universal Pictures isn’t exactly spoiled for choice when it comes to franchises so the studio may well be keen to try its hand at superheroes once again.
