Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) is expected to announce a deal to buy most of 21st Century Fox as early as Thursday, adding to the Christmas cheer that the new Star Wars film promises to bring this season.
Disney’s ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ is set to be one of the biggest opening weekends of the year with an estimated US$425mln global debut.
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The film will be officially released in the UK on Thursday, a day ahead of the US launch.
The franchise will play a key role in Disney’s efforts to rival Netflix in its plans to launch its own video streaming service.
An acquisition of Fox’s assets, including its film studio, cable channels and stakes in Hulu and Sky, would bolster Disney’s content offering before rolling out the new service in 2019.
The deal values the assets at about US$60bn, including debt.
Fox, currently home to the Avatar and X-Men film franchises, would be left with its broadcast network and Fox News Channel.
The remaining assets will be spun off into a new company worth about US$10 per share, the Financial Times reported, citing sources.
Fox and Disney were on Tuesday still said to be in talks about the details for a deal, including the total price to be paid for the assets and the future of Fox chief executive James Murdoch.
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James Murdoch is understood to be in line for a senior role at the combined group, which would end 20 years working for his father Rupert.
The companies were also said to be discussing what measures need to be taken to be approved by US regulators.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has been tightening regulation on such deals, having recently blocked AT&T’s US$85.4bn acquisition of Time Warner unless it sells off some of its broadcast networks.
The merger of the two movie studios and Disney’s dominant position in sport could be raised as a possible competition concern.