Comcast declined to comment. So did Fox. Disney didn’t return calls.
Largest Shareholder
The Nevada-based Murdoch family trust, which holds a 17 percent stake in all of Fox’s outstanding shares, will walk away with an equivalent share after the sale, which Disney has proposed to be part in cash and part in Disney shares. The Murdochs could end up owning 7.6 percent of Disney, enough to be the largest shareholder. They will, however, face a federal tax bill if they take cash. Antitrust regulators have already blessed the transaction.
One way to illustrate the success of the sale is to look at the value of Sky. The British satellite operator is trading at about 13.5 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. That’s better than most other European telecom and cable deals in recent history, according to Matthew Bloxham of Bloomberg Intelligence.
In December 2016, Murdoch offered 10.75 pounds ($13.99) a share for what it didn’t own of Sky. Disney’s latest bid of 14 pounds a share for a stake was one pound more than what Fox was willing to offer, according to regulatory filings.
More good news for Murdoch: Rival Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.’s plan to buy Tribune Media Co. was thrown into jeopardy on Monday by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, which questioned the legality of the deal and proposed a hearing that could kill it.
Discovery’s Zaslav was effusive in his praise of Murdoch, putting him on a par with his boss, John Malone, the 77-year-old backer of cable company Liberty Media, the Discovery Channel and the Lions Gate movie studio.
“I think John Malone and Rupert Murdoch built this business together,” Zaslav said last week at the Allen & Co. media conference in an Idaho resort. “Without Rupert and without Malone, we all wouldn’t be here in Sun Valley.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.