21st Century Fox Exec Chair Rupert Murdoch invited Disney Chair & CEO Bob Iger to his winery in L.A. last month as the execs were "trying to nail down a deal that would mark a turning point in both of their careers." After a lunch of chicken and salad, they "opened a bottle of Chardonnay and walked through the vineyard to hash out terms under which Disney would buy Fox assets," sources said. A few weeks later, "as the talks reached the final stretch, the same property was threatened by a 422-acre brush fire that swept through the upscale Bel Air neighborhood." The winery "survived, and so did the deal" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/15).
WHAT'S NEXT: Murdoch said, "I know a lot of you are wondering, ‘Why are the Murdochs making such a momentous decision? Are we retreating?’ Absolutely not. We are pivoting at a pivotal moment" (VARIETY.com, 12/14). The deal is "likely to raise thorny regulatory concerns at a time when the Justice Department has been putting media mergers under the microscope" (L.A. TIMES, 12/15). MoffettNathanson estimates that Fox is "parting with a portfolio" of RSNs that bring in annual Ebitda of $2.3B (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/15). N.Y.-based research firm GBH Insights Chief Strategy Officer Daniel Ives weighed in on the deal's repercussions for the RSNs Disney is acquiring. Ives: "I wouldn’t expect any change there in terms of content. Those (RSNs) are the golden goose so the last thing they want to do is tinker with it" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/15).
