21st Century Fox’s shares surge after reports say that it held merger talks with Disney
If the deal goes through, the media giant will reportedly sell its movie studio, television production unit and networks to its rival company.
The stocks of media corporation 21st Century Fox on Monday surged 8.5% after reports that the company was looking to sell most of its assets to Walt Disney Co surfaced, CNN Money reported.
If the deal goes through, Fox will sell its movie studio, television production unit and networks such as Fox Television, FX, National Geographic, Sky and Star to Disney, CNBC reported. The broadcaster said that the two sides were not involved in discussions at present, but that Disney could revisit it in the future.
The management at the Rupert Murdoch-controlled Fox believes that it could compete more effectively in the marketplace by focusing on just news and sports, CNBC reported.
The proposed deal would make Disney a more formidable media conglomerate at a time when AT&T is trying to acquire Time Warner Inc., which owns CNN, HBO and movie studio Warner Bros, Los Angeles Times reported. It would also allow Disney to compete with tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Amazon and Netflix. Disney had earlier announced that it would launch its own Netflix-like streaming services next year.