Disney to buy most of 20th Century Fox for $52 billion

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

As far as blockbuster deals go, you can't do better than this. In its efforts to consolidate a roster of properties in order to counter the surging popularity of Netflix, Disney will be buying most of 20th Century Fox for an unprecedented $52 billion dollars.

The Mouse House stands to gain a number of marquee properties from Rupert Murdoch's Fox that it can very well spin off into movies, toys and merchandising and even theme park rides. We're talking huge properties including cable channels FX and National Geographic as well as Fox's stakes in streaming service Hulu, which positions it nicely against Netflix. Fox will retain the mosre serious side of their portfolio of products including Fox News, Fox Sports and Fox Business Networks.

What does go to Disney in this mammoth deal? They get X-Men, Fantastic Four, Alien and Predator franchises and shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy. For Marvel Films, a Disney subsidiary, this means they can integrate the X-Men and spinoffs like Deadpool into the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). They can unify the Fantastic Four with the Avengers and offer their take on these popular characters.

“The acquisition of this stellar collection of businesses from 21st Century Fox reflects the increasing consumer demand for a rich diversity of entertainment experiences that are more compelling, accessible and convenient than ever before,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger. “We’re honored and grateful that Rupert Murdoch has entrusted us with the future of businesses he spent a lifetime building, and we’re excited about this extraordinary opportunity to significantly increase our portfolio of well-loved franchises and branded content to greatly enhance our growing direct-to-consumer offerings. The deal will also substantially expand our international reach, allowing us to offer world-class storytelling and innovative distribution platforms to more consumers in key markets around the world.”

For Disney, this acquisition ensures a number of established and popular properties for which to build on and positions them against Netflix for the future. Netflix has said it will spend 8 billion dollars on creating original content to sustain interest and keep subscriptions going.  Disney has started pulling out some of its shows from Netflix in preparation for what is expected to be a showdown between an innovative and wily streaming service and one of the most venerated Hollywood players in the industry.

Source: Variety