Disney Moves In On Fox

Walt Disney Company’s planned looks to be moving ahead as the studio has now won U.S. antitrust approval for its $71 billion purchase Fox’s entertainment assets.

Disney won the approval by agreeing to sell Fox’s 22 regional sports networks to resolve the Justice Department’s concerns over raised prices for cable sports programming in local markets.

The new setup also raises hurdles for a rival bid from Comcast Corp., which also faces potential legal challenges even if they offer moe. Comcast still has time to respond though.

Disney and Comcast are both looking to use the Fox assets to bolster their content, expand overseas and fend off the threat from streaming services. Fox last week accepted a sweetened bid from Disney who upped their deal to a $38-a-share price from the $28-a-share they offered in December.

A good question would be, what would this mean for franchises like Predator, Alien or Die Hard?