21st Century Fox Rejected Offer From Comcast Over Antitrust Concerns

(RTTNews) - 21st Century Fox Inc. (FOX) rejected a takeover offer for its entertainment assets from Comcast Corp. (CMCSK, CMCSA) largely over antitrust concerns, a regulatory filing said, even though the bid was 16% higher on a per-share basis than what Walt Disney Co. (DIS) ultimately agreed to pay.

Fox's board decided that Comcast's offer was too risky to accept, according to the filing. Fox was concerned such a deal might not pass muster in Washington, and even if it did, it would require divestiture of valuable assets that would reduce the value of the deal to Fox. Comcast also didn't offer Fox a breakup fee in the event regulators didn't bless the deal, according to the filing.

Disney 's all-stock deal with Fox, reached in December, valued the Fox assets at $29.54 a share based on the last trading day before it was announced. The filing said a company described as "Party B" offered an all-stock deal valued at $34.41 per share as of November. Reports confirmed that Party B is Comcast.

Verizon Communications Inc. also showed interest in making an all-stock bid for Fox assets, according to the filing, but Fox said it would have been without "any meaningful premium" to Fox shareholders. Verizon was described in the filing as Party A, the report said.

In its $52.4 billion deal with Disney, Fox agreed to sell its television and film studios; cable networks; international assets including Star India and its stake in European operator Sky PLC; its stake in streaming service Hulu; and its 22 regional sports networks. The Disney deal valued Hulu at $8.73 billion, the filing said.