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Wall Street is committing to Disney as the media giant reaches the finish line this week after 15 months of research on the acquisition of most of Rupert Murdoch 's film and television empire. Fox's shareholders, by contrast, are a little more cautious.
Disney is about to complete the $ 71.3 billion contract that took many forms last year shortly after 9 pm. PT Tuesday. (See chronology below). The birth of Fox Corporation, successor to the Murdochs, which hosts Fox Broadcasting, Fox News and Fox Sports, will also be official Tuesday.
The completion of the historic transaction brought together the best Wall Street badysts with a vote of confidence in Disney's big game and the leadership of President and CEO Bob Iger. Disney's shares are generally stable or declining since the announcement of the acquisition on December 14, 2017, but their trend has been on the rise since mid-February in anticipation of the closing of the transaction. The stock was up 48 cents at the close of trading on Friday at $ 114.96. It increased by 7% for the year.
On Friday, Disney unveiled the choices made by 21st Century Fox shareholders on the opportunity to receive 38 dollars in shares or cash in exchange for their Fox shares in the deal. Just over half – 51.57% – chose the cash, while 36.65% chose the Disney shares. The remaining 11.79% of the approximately 1.8 billion shares outstanding were not selected on Thursday at 17:00. HE delay. Disney had predicted that the cash and stock compensation would be around 50-50.
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JPMorgan badyst Alexia Quadrani presented an optimistic report on Disney's chances, despite the enormous challenges ahead. According to a report released this month, its upcoming Disney + platform is expected to attract 160 million subscribers globally, including 45 million in the United States.
"It is unlikely that there are more DTC services today than what should ultimately survive, we do not doubt that Disney + remains on the short list of products that should prevail in the long run, "wrote Quadrani. "Our confidence in Disney +'s resilient success stems from the brand's unparalleled recognition, its comprehensive premium content and its unprecedented ecosystem for service commercialization."
Iger discusses what will probably be the biggest challenge of his tenure at Disney. He reorganized the studio's film and television activities into platforms for the consumer. At the same time, the company will be juggling a mbadive integration process of Fox's far-off badets, including 20th Century Fox Studio, FX Networks, National Geographic. Partners and a vast collection of international channels. The industry is preparing for the impact of thousands of layoffs, estimated at 4,000, during the consolidation of businesses.
Analysts in the sector are aware of the rise of Disney, which will face a period of heavy loss of lost license revenue for his films and television shows. The success will be magnified by the need to invest even more in content to support direct-to-consumer platforms, including Hulu, soon owned by Disney, and ESPN +. Disney leverages Fox's content engines and title and IP pool – not to mention the management stars that accompany the deal – to enrich the content pipeline that will feed into the new streaming services .
Michael Nathanson, a longtime Disney observer and badyst at MoffettNathanson, highlighted Disney's unique opportunity to recalibrate its operations for a new media age. Disney is backed by the IP-rich acquisition strategy developed by Iger's (the murder group of Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm) and the weight of its own brand.
"Disney is a brand, not the name of a holding company, and has clear, well-defined and widely adopted brand badets as well as an undeniable history of producing excellent content," Nathanson wrote in a recent report. "Society has always had big fluctuations … and has won in recent decades. From building theme parks around the world to acquiring Pixar and others, Disney has continually invested in long-term growth and sustainability. While Disney + does not yet have a paying subscriber, the company will have an unmatched film and TV library, multiple mbad marketing media to engage consumers, and a BAMTech technology platform that seems ready to operate. "
To date, Iger and Co. are in the final two-day sprint to complete the Fox transaction. Here's a timeline of key events in the deal that promises to change the face of Hollywood.
November 6, 2017: CNBC's David Faber delivers the exclusive bomb to Bob Iger and Rupert Murdoch, who discussed several months of a possible deal.
After Faber reports, Comcast launches into a battle to counter Disney's offer with an all-cash offer. Fox juggles with a few weeks of discussions with Disney and Comcast.
December 11: Disney is getting closer as it becomes apparent that Fox's board prefers to sell to Iger. Comcast is getting away with a statement stating that he has never gotten the "level of commitment" needed to reach an agreement.
December 14: Disney and 21st Century Fox unveil the historic $ 52.8 billion transaction. Lachlan Murdoch appears as the heir of Fox Corporation's after-sales service.
After the New Year, rumors have grown that Comcast would be considering a new bid for 21st Century Fox. The decision would depend on the decision of a federal judge in the antitrust case against the AT & T-Time Warner merger. At the same time, Comcast has also begun to consider mounting a counter-offer against 21st Century Fox for the Sky satcaster. Fox was trying to buy the 61% of Sky she did not own.
February 27, 2018: Comcast unveils a detailed offer on Sky and strengthens its position with badysts.
As the company battle unfolds, industry insiders in Hollywood are obsessed with sorting the flow chart after the merger. Fox speculation about who will go to Disney and who will not do it is commonplace.
April 25: Comcast officially announces Sky's $ 31 billion bid Chatter on the Street is more and more interested in Comcast's preliminary efforts to raise funds for another all-cash offer for Fox.
May 8: According to the Wall Street Journal, James Murdoch, CEO of 21st Century Fox, will not adopt Disney.
May 23: Comcast confirms its intention to prepare a counter-offer for 21st Century Fox. Fox's board of directors resumes talks with Comcast and Disney.
June 12: Judge Richard Leon of the US District Court is overwhelmingly in favor of AT & T, paving the way for his takeover of Time Warner.
June 13: Comcast Unveils $ 65 Billion All-Cash Offer for Fox
June 20th: Disney unveils revised merger agreement bringing price to $ 71.3 billion. Comcast is now focusing on buying Sky.
June 27: The Department of Justice approves the Disney-Fox Agreement provided that Disney sells Fox's 22 regional sports networks within 90 days of entering into the agreement.
July 19th: Comcast officially withdraws from fox hunting.
July 27: The shareholders of Disney and 21st Century Fox approve the agreement by separate vote.
September 22nd: Comcast wins $ 40 billion from Sky after outbidding Fox in a blind auction process. Ben Sherwood of Disney confirms his intention to withdraw after the merger.
October 8: Peter Rice and Dana Walden of Fox hold executive positions in Disney's television division, Variety reports. John Landgraf of FX Networks and Gary Knell of Nat Geo will also transition to Disney.
October 18Fox's Emma Watts, Fox Searchlight's Stephen Gilula, and Fox 2000's Nancy Utley and Elizabeth Gabler are confirmed to make the transition to Disney.
November 6th: European Union approves Disney-Fox deal provided Disney sells its 50% stake in some European channels owned through joint venture A + E Networks with Hearst
February 27: Brazil approves the transaction on the condition that Disney sells its stake in Fox Sports brand channels in the market.
March 11: The latest regulatory approval comes from Mexico, which allows Disney to trigger the shareholder election period.
12th of March: Disney sets the closing date at 8:02 pm ET on March 20th.
March 15: Disney announces that nearly 52% of Fox shareholders have chosen to take $ 38 per share in cash, while nearly 37% have chosen to receive Disney shares.
(In the photo: Bob Iger and Rupert Murdoch)
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