The Wall Street Journal reported that Comcast (CMCSA) has expressed an intent to acquire 21st Century FOX (FOXA), citing people familiar with the matter, days after the Fox-Disney deal fell apart.
Specifics are unclear, but the deal will surely be closely watched amid heated speculations around Fox lately.
A few weeks ago, The Walt Disney Company (DIS) tried to acquire Fox’s cable networks and film studios businesses. The conversation ended quietly without much meaningful development.
CNBC reported that Comcast is interested in the same Fox assets as Disney. In particular, Comcast may lay eyes on Fox’s international operations to diversify its U.S.-centric portfolio.
Fox released its latest quarterly earnings last week, beating Wall Street estimates. The cable networks segment reported the strongest revenue growth, while movie studios and television segments netted lower profits than last year. Around the same time, strangely, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a key investor and a longtime ally of Fox’s owner Rupert Murdoch, dumped his entire holding of the company worth $1.5 billion, an event believed to be closely-tied to Saudi’s ongoing anti-corruption crackdown.
Fox currently has a market capitalization of $54 billion. Co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch said during an investor meeting last week that he is happy with Fox’s current product mix.