Let the bidding war begin.
Comcast offered to buy a large portion of 21st Century Fox for $65 billion in cash Wednesday as the cable giant tried to spoil the Walt Disney Co.'s $52.4 billion deal to buy those same assets.
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DealBook decided to look at the numbers:
What’s the premium?
Comcast’s $35-a-share bid is 19 percent higher than the value of Disney’s all-stock offer, which valued Rupert Murdoch’s company at $29.54 a share when they struck the deal on Dec. 14. It also exceeds Comcast’s all-stock proposal worth $34.41 per share made in November.
Where does it rank among the biggest deals?
Comcast’s bid for the Fox assets would rank as the 16th-largest deal on record and the third-largest media deal, according to Dealogic. The deal is also the third-largest acquisition announced this year. Interestingly, Comcast now has two potential deals in the Top 10. Comcast’s $41.4 billion bid for Sky ranks sixth.
What is the breakup fee?
The breakup fee was viewed as an important part of Comcast’s attempt to win over Murdoch and Fox’s other shareholders. Fox had rejected Comcast’s offer in November partially over regulatory concerns, and some said a big breakup fee would help assuage Fox’s concerns. Comcast offered to pay Fox $2.5 billion if the deal failed to gain regulatory approval. That’s the same as the breakup fee Disney agreed to pay, and it ranks as the 11th largest on record, according to Dealogic.
How much did Comcast agree to sell in assets?
Comcast’s bid would involve elements of both a horizontal merger and a vertical merger. To help satisfy regulators, Comcast agreed to sell any of Fox’s regional sports networks and any assets generating up to $500 million of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Disney made the same offer.
How will it impact the much-watched rankings of deal advisers?
Comcast is being advised by Bank of America and Wells Fargo. The deal pushed Bank of America up one place in the global rankings of advisers by announced deal volume, according to Dealogic. It is now ranked fourth. Wells Fargo shot all the way up to 13th from 23rd.