In a historic move, shareholders have approved Disney’s acquisition of Fox assets in the amount of $71.3 billion, the companies have confirmed Friday.
According to Disney, 99 percent of shareholders approved the move, but Fox simply said that a “majority” had agreed, Deadline reports. Both companies anticipate a close in the first half of 2019.
“Combining the 21CF businesses with Disney and establishing new ‘Fox’ will unlock significant value for our shareholders,” Fox’s Rupert Murdoch said in a statement. “We are grateful to our shareholders for approving this transaction. I want to thank all of our executives and colleagues for their enormous contributions in building 21st Century Fox over the past decades. With their help, we expect the enlarged Disney and new ‘Fox’ companies will be pre-eminent in the entertainment and media industries.”
“We’re incredibly pleased that shareholders of both companies have granted approval for us to move forward, and are confident in our ability to create significant long-term value through this acquisition of Fox’s premier assets,” Disney CEO Bob Iger agreed in the same statement. “We remain grateful to Rupert Murdoch and to the rest of the 21st Century Fox board for entrusting us with the future of these extraordinary businesses, and look forward to welcoming 21st Century Fox’s stellar talent to Disney and ultimately integrating our businesses to provide consumers around the world with more appealing content and entertainment options.”
The deal will not only give Disney Fox’s film and TV studio assets, including several key franchises like Fantastic Four, The Simpsons and X-Men, but it will also gain a couple of cable networks, including National Geographic and FX, as well as a 30 percent stake in Hulu. With these assets, Disney is poised to be an enormous player in the on-demand television and film landscape.
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