BURBANK, CA and NEW YORK – The Walt Disney Company officially closed its $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox (21CF) on Wednesday.
The deal will see Disney gobble up film production businesses including Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Family and Fox Animation; Fox’s television creative units, Twentieth Century Fox Television, FX Productions and Fox21; FX Networks; National Geographic Partners; Fox Networks Group International; Star India; and Fox’s interests in Hulu, Tata Sky and Endemol Shine Group.
It excludes 21CF’s news, sports and broadcast businesses, including the FOX News Channel, FOX Business Network, FOX Broadcasting Company, FOX Sports, FOX Television Stations Group, plus sports cable networks FS1, FS2, Fox Deportes and Big Ten Network, all of which were spun off in to an entity known as Fox Corporation.
Disney said that the acqusition will allow it to provide more appealing high-quality content and entertainment options to meet growing consumer demand; increase its international footprint; and expand its direct-to-consumer offerings, which include ESPN+, the Disney+ streaming video-on-demand service scheduled to launch later this year, and the companies’ combined ownership stake in Hulu.
“This is an extraordinary and historic moment for us—one that will create significant long-term value for our company and our shareholders,” said Disney chairman and CEO Robert Iger, in the news release. “Combining Disney’s and 21st Century Fox’s wealth of creative content and proven talent creates the preeminent global entertainment company, well positioned to lead in an incredibly dynamic and transformative era.”
There is no word yet when or how, or even if, this deal will affect Canadian companies such as Corus Entertainment, Bell Media and Rogers Media which are in partnerships with Disney and Fox, or with now-former Fox brands which now fall under the Disney umbrella (of which there are many). More to come on that front.
