Comcast/Fox Approval Less Sure Than Disney/Fox, Fox Board Says
Comcast's bid for Fox's nonbroadcast assets faces dicier odds for regulatory OK than Disney's, said Fox's board. In an SEC filing Monday, Fox said its board opted last week to accept the Disney revised offer (see 1806200015) partly because it's…
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higher than the Comcast bid and Comcast/Fox "would be subject to a greater degree of regulatory uncertainty, including the possibility of an outright prohibition and a higher risk of divestitures and delay to closing, as compared to a strategic transaction with Disney." It said Comcast "did not sufficiently limit that regulatory uncertainty" because its June 12 offer -- while better than its late-2017 proposal -- didn't address regulatory risks despite a Comcast transaction raising "a significantly more difficult set of regulatory issues." Fox said its board discussions on a Comcast bid involved DOJ's "apparent sensitivity to the potential anticompetitive effects of vertical integration and rejection of behavioral remedies before and after the litigation with respect to the AT&T/Time Warner transaction," Comcast's market share, its NBCUniversal acquisition, Fox's past regulatory submissions on Comcast's proposed buy of Time Warner Cable and AT&T/TW, expiration of the Comcast/NBCU consent decree, and FCC net neutrality deregulation. The programmer said it considered the prospect of Comcast having controlling interest of Hulu, which competes with Comcast's core business and Comcast's regional sports network ownership. Fox said it and Disney filed Hart-Scott-Rodino report forms Feb. 1, and received a second request March 5. It said based on talks with U.S. and international regulators, the deal should be complete by June 2019. Comcast didn't comment Tuesday.