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Disney and 21st Century Fox shareholder have voted to approve the $71.3 million buyout after a crazy bidding war.
It’s been a long time coming but Disney and Fox’s shareholders have finally approved the historic merger of Disney and Fox Studios. This follows months of wrangling with Comcast who tried to outbid the “Mouse House”.
Here’s what Variety has to say about the merger:
Shareholders gathered Friday morning at the New York Hilton for separate meetings to vote on the historic transaction that the companies first set back in December. Both meetings were brief, lasting less than 15 minutes.
Gerson Zweifach, general counsel of 21st Century Fox, told Fox shareholders the merger is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019. He hailed the deal as a transformative transaction that will enable us to unlock significant value for our stockholders.”
The Disney gathering was short and perfunctory. Led by Disney general counsel Alan Braverman and CFO Christine McCarthy, the vote took less than 10 minutes and received near unanimous approval from Disney shareholders.
There’s nothing stopping the merger now since Disney has the green light from the Justice Department for the purchase. It’s based on the condition that it sells off Fox’s 22 regional sports networks within 90 days of closing. Disney also needs a handful of approvals from foreign governments.
“Combining the 21CF businesses with Disney and establishing new ‘Fox’ will unlock significant value for our shareholders,” Rupert Murdoch said in a statement. “We are grateful to our shareholders for approving this transaction. I want to thank all of our executives and colleagues for their enormous contributions in building 21st Century Fox over the past decades. With their help, we expect the enlarged Disney and new ‘Fox’ companies will be pre-eminent in the entertainment and media industries.”
“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,” Robert A. Iger the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company said in a related statement. “We remain grateful to Rupert Murdoch and to the rest of the 21st Century Fox board for entrusting us with the future of these extraordinary businesses, and look forward to welcoming 21st Century Fox’s stellar talent to Disney and ultimately integrating our businesses to provide consumers around the world with more appealing content and entertainment options.”
Welcome to the MCU boys and girls.
What do you think of the merger?
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