CNBC are reporting that Comcast has dropped its pursuit of 21st Century Fox, clearing the way for the rival bid from Disney.
Comcast said Thursday it would not pursue its bid to buy assets of Twenty-First Century Fox, choosing to focus on its offer for Britain’s Sky.
Shares of Comcast jumped 2.9 percent in premarket trading, while Fox fell 1.2 percent.
The announcement ends one of the biggest battles in the media industry this year, as Comcast fought with Disney to acquire Fox’s movie studio and television assets. Disney had recently outbid Comcast’s $65 billion all-cash offer with a $71 billion cash-and-stock offer.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said in a statement, “I’d like to congratulate Bob Iger and the team at Disney and commend the Murdoch family and Fox for creating such a desirable and respected company.”
Complicating matters was Comcast’s bidding for Sky, which is 39 percent owned by Fox. The two companies were also engaged in a bidding war there, with two new offers on the table last week, Fox’s valuing Sky at $32.5 billion and Comcast’s raising that to $34 billion.
CNBC’s David Faber reported earlier this week that the U.S. government’s decision to appeal a court ruling allowing AT&T to go ahead with its acquisition of Time Warner had given Comcast reason to pause in its pursuit of the Fox assets. The government had sought to block the AT&T deal on competitive grounds.
Fox’s Rupert Murdoch was also seen as favoring the Disney offer, Faber reported, citing sources.
On CNBC on Thursday, Faber said he called Iger about the Comcast announcement and actually broke the news to the CEO. Iger replied, “holy crap,” according to Faber.
More on this emerging story as we get it.
