It has been confirmed that Shareholders have approved the merger between Disney and 21st Century Fox. The merger should be complete in the first half of 2019.
Two meetings took place on Friday morning to hold votes on the transaction, which was first proposed in December. Both meetings were finished in under 15 minutes.
After tussling with Comcast over bids for the 21st Century Fox assets, which include the 20th Century Fox studio, FX Networks, National Geographic Partners, and other entertainment assets, this vote seals the purchase for Disney.
Gerson Zweifach, 21st-Century Fox’s general counsel, called the deal a “transformative transaction that will enable us to unlock significant value for our stockholders.” The price, by the way, was 52.4 billion USD in December, before being upped to 65 Billion USD cash in June.
Led by Disney general counsel Alan Braverman and CFO Christine McCarthy, Disney’s vote resulted in near-unanimous approval from Disney shareholders. The only word of dissent came from a shareholder who identified themselves as an economics professor at Duquesne University- who simply stated: “I think we are overpaying for Fox“.
The purchase has been approved by the US government, pending the sale of some of Fox’s assets within 90 days. Disney is still awaiting approval from some foreign governments who are implicated in the purchase.
Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch will head a new company dubbed ‘New Fox’, which will comprise Fox Broadcasting Co. and Fox’s TV assets, such as Fox News and Fox Sports.
“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,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger, “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.”