Disney Resumes Talks About Buying Fox Assets—Reports

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The Walt Disney Co. is again expressing interested in buying media assets from 21st Century Fox, according to media reports.

Fox is also reportedly talking to Comcast about assets including some cable entertainment networks, studio business and international holdings.

Related: Report: Comcast Interested in Acquiring Fox Assets

The Murdoch family, which holds a controlling interest in 21st Century Fox, would retain its sports, news and broadcast businesses. They are expected to make a decision about whether or not to make a deal by the end of the year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The possibility of a major acquisition by a big media company was made more problematic by the Justice Department’s decision to file a lawsuit challenging AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner.

Other companies that might be interested in Fox’s assets could be Sony Corp. and Verizon Communications.

(Photo via Tom Simpson's Flickr. Photo was taken on April 11, 2014 using Creative Commons License 2.0. Photo was not resized)

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.