$52 Billion Disney-Fox Deal Sparks Concerns

The blockbuster deal between Walt Disney Co. and 21st Century Fox could likely put US antitrust enforcers in an awkward position following the government’s challenge to another media-entertainment mega-deal, AFP reported. The $52 billion deal would give Disney the prized Fox television and film studios, as well as international TV operations and US cable entertainment and regional sports channels from the empire created by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who would maintain control of the Trump-friendly Fox News Channel. The deal has sparked concerns about too much concentration of power, giving Disney some 40% of US box office revenues and a large chunk of television entertainment and sports channels. But complicating any review is the well-known friendship and political ties between President Donald Trump and Murdoch—with the two men even discussing the transaction in a phone call. Another twist is that the deal comes just weeks after the Trump administration’s Justice Department filed suit to block AT&T’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner, a major media-entertainment rival and owner of Trump nemesis CNN.