The swirl of takeover talk around
21st Century Fox is only gaining steam as sources confirm Sony Pictures Entertainment has joined the list of companies making overtures to the Murdoch empire.
21st Century Fox surprisingly became a takeover target earlier this month when word first surfaced that Disney recently held talks with Fox about buying key assets including the film and TV production studios, international TV platforms including Sky and Star India and the FX and National Geographic cable groups.
In just the past few days, Comcast made an approach to Fox to discuss a similarly configured sale. Sony is believed to be looking at a select group of assets rather than the entire company. Verizon, according to a report Thursday night by Dow Jones, has also signaled its interest.
Reps for Fox and Sony declined to comment. The hive of activity around Fox is fueling a new round of M&A speculation for other media assets, including Viacom’s Paramount Pictures and its cable networks. Viacom shares were up 10.3% at the close of trading Friday, after getting socked Thursday on the heels of the company’s fiscal fourth quarter earnings report showing weakness in the domestic cable operations. Lionsgate was up 5%. Fox shares were up 6.5%, after spiking Thursday night in after-hours trading following the report of Comcast’s interest.
There is speculation that the Murdochs would move to combine the Fox broadcast network and TV stations, Fox News and Fox Sports operations, which are not believed to be part of any sale scenario, and reunite them with the publishing assets held by News Corp. 21st Century Fox was carved out as a separate entity from News Corp. in 2013 amid a scandal involving the U.K. newspaper division and concerns that the financial challenges of the publishing businesses were dragging down the value of Fox media and entertainment assets
Sony Pictures Joins 21st Century Fox Hunt as Deal Talk Spreads Across Biz – Variety