(Reuters) - Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) offered $65 billion on Wednesday for Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (FOXA.O) media assets, emboldened by AT&T Inc (T.N) prevailing over the Trump administration’s attempt to block a merger with Time Warner Inc (TWX.N).
The all-cash offer for Fox’s movie and TV studios and other assets including the X-Men franchise, opens a war with Walt Disney Co (DIS.N), which has bid $52 billion in stock.
Comcast is expected to lead a wave of traditional media companies trying to combine distribution and production to compete with Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) and Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google. The younger firms produce content, sell it online directly to consumers and often offer lucrative targeted advertising.
AT&T won a court victory over skeptical U.S. antitrust regulators on Tuesday when a federal judge allowed it to buy Time Warner for $85 billion, which was widely taken as a green light for Comcast to submit its expected bid.