Comcast offered $65B for 21st Century Fox's global entertainment assets, "throwing down a challenge" to Disney's $60B bid in a move "likely to prompt a fierce bidding war" between the U.S. firms, according to Hannah Boland of the London TELEGRAPH. Cable TV provider Comcast was expected to make its formal all-cash offer, equal to $35 a share, on Wednesday, after having last month said that it was "in the advanced stages of preparing the bid" and given recent speculation that Chair & CEO Brian Roberts was "lining up financing for the deal." It had previously approached Fox about a potential deal in November, but its efforts were "rebuffed." However, Comcast "refused to walk away," and had been "closely watching" the outcome of a court case in the U.S., in which the Trump administration was attempting to block Comcast rival AT&T's takeover of Time Warner. The case on Wednesday resulted in victory for the telecom. The outcome, which has "allayed fears" among many companies that such deals would be blocked, is "expected to spark a flurry of consolidation in the media industry, as companies battle the growing threat from technology companies" (TELEGRAPH, 6/13).
