According to the FT: Walt Disney is closing in on the entertainment assets of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox in an all-share deal that stands to reshape Hollywood and the rapidly digitising global media industry. The deal, valuing the Fox assets at about $60bn including debt, could be announced as early as Thursday, according to people briefed on the negotiations.
It would see Disney add 20th Century Fox, home to the Avatar and X-Men film franchises, to its own studio, as well as international pay-television brands from Sky in the UK to Star in India, regional US sports networks and Fox’s stake in the Hulu digital streaming service. Fox’s remaining assets, including the Fox broadcast network and Fox News Channel will be spun off into a new company worth about $10 per share, said one person briefed about the transaction terms.