US: Comcast in talks to acquire parts of 21 Century Fox

Comcast, the owner of NBCUniversal, is in talks to buy some of the assets of 21st Century Fox (Fox), people familiar with the discussions told WSJ on Thursday, November 16.

The sources said the talks were ongoing and in an early stage. Fox has also been having on-again-off-again conversations with Disney which was interested in buying Fox assets to bolster a direct-to-consumer internet video service. The Journal also reports interest by Verizon and Sony in buying Fox assets.

Comcast is looking at many of the same assets that Disney was reported to be interested in, the sources said.

According to an earlier report, the potential Disney deal would let Fox keep its news and sports channels along with the network and stations. And Fox would give up its studio and production assets and international ventures.

Comcast is interested in Fox’s international TV distribution assets, which include a major stake in Sky, a British pay-TV company, and Star India, a pay-TV service in Asia, the sources said.

All three companies, Disney, Comcast and Fox, are already partners in the online video venture Hulu, in which Time Warner also has a minority stake.

Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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