Sly fox

14 December 2017 By Jennifer Saba Follow @jennifersaba

It’s paying $52.4 bln in stock to own a slimmed-down Fox, including the movie studio. CEO Bob Iger is extending his stay again. The historic deal pushes Rupert Murdoch’s empire into the Magic Kingdom, and long-suffering Fox shareholders will finally get a happy ending.

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Walt Disney on Dec. 14 agreed to buy Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox, after the spinoff of certain businesses to Fox shareholders, for $52.4 billion in stock.

Fox assets that will be sold to Disney include the Twentieth Century Fox movie and cable networks.

Fox shareholders will receive 0.2745 Disney shares for each Fox share in the merger, subject to tax-related adjustment. Disney will also assume about $13.7 billion of Fox net debt.

Disney said the acquisition is expected to yield at least $2 billion in cost savings from efficiencies.

The deal values the merged Fox business at nearly $30 per share based on Disney’s closing share price on Dec. 13. Fox shares, representing all the company’s assets, traded as low as $25 in early November.

The remaining assets, including the Fox Broadcasting network and stations, Fox News, Fox Business and others, will be spun off to Fox shareholders as a separate publicly traded company.

Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, 66, will extend his tenure through the end of 2021 to oversee the integration of the Fox businesses. He has already postponed his retirement from Disney three times. In March, he said he was committed to leaving the company in July 2019.

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