Shareholders at Disney and 21st Century Fox approved a deal on Friday for Disney to acquire Fox properties for approximately $71.3 billion in cash and stocks, bringing the merger of the two studios one step closer to reality.
The majority of Fox shareholders voted for the deal while 99 percent of Disney’s shareholders approved on the latter company’s end. The decision, per Deadline, took around 10 minutes to make.
“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,” Bob Iger, Disney Chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
Disney is set to acquire Fox’s TV and film studios (with the exceptions of Fox News and Fox’s sports channels), cable networks including National Geographic and FX, and Fox’s stake in Hulu. In exchange, Fox will receive stock at $38 a share as well as cash.
The final deal between Disney and Fox is a result of Disney offering more money to Fox—its initial offering was worth $52.4 billion—after Comcast countered Disney’s offer with a $65 billion cash bid.
The approval of the Disney-Fox merger will likely have some movie-goers torn. While the acquisition will finally merge nearly all of Marvel’s superheroes under one umbrella, the possibility of Disney becoming a monopoly after gaining control over several more franchises on top of Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel leaves some uneasy.
The deal is set to close in early 2019, according to both Fox and Disney.
H/T Deadline
