Twenty-First Century Fox has had talks to sell to Walt Disney for the largest portion of its assets in cinema and television, which would have the effect of developing the portfolio the contents of the group of Burbank and to increase its international presence, reported CNBC Monday. The action Fox has finished up 9.9% on Wall Street, while the Disney action has gained 2.0 per cent. The two parties are not arguing at the present time but they have done these past few weeks, said CNBC, citing sources close to the matter.
The information of CNBC echoed the widespread opinion among certain managers of the Fox that the media group may not reach the critical size enabling it to compete with giants such as Amazon.com or Netflix. Disney, which tries to adapt to new habits of digital consumer and to the offensive of the giants of the tech Hollywood, and Fox abstained from any comment.
Disney, which cannot lawfully be the owner of two television networks, would try not to buy the sports programmes from Fox for fear that a merger with his own ESPN did on him the wrath of the competition authorities. He would ignore similarly Fox News and local television stations affiliated, says CNBC.
Obvious synergies
In addition to the film studio, television production and international assets such as the network indian Star and the broadcaster european Sky, Disney would reuse the chain cable FX specializes in fiction TV and National Geographic, says CNBC.
Fox proposes to acquire the 61% of Sky that it does not hold for $ 14.5 billion, but the operation is disliked by the british authorities.
“For Disney, the synergies are many and obvious,” said Brian Wieser, analyst at Pivotal Research. “In contrast, for Fox it is much less clear”. Other media could also be interested in the assets of Fox, adds the analyst.
Disney is facing a decline in audience of ESPN, its largest network, and launch streaming video services to reach audiences more young people who shun traditional forms of media like cable and satellite.
CEO Bob Iger has said that he intends to take his retirement in July 2019 and Disney he is looking for already a successor.
Fox and Disney are co-owners of Hulu, a streaming service that provides programs and television content on-demand. Comcast and Time Warner also have stakes in Hulu.
(with Reuters)
