Only 6 Months: Why the Disney/Fox Merger Was Approved So Fast

Just how was theDisney / Fox merger O.K. so quickly ? In December last year , Disney and Fox reached an unprecedented agreement that would see Disney purchase the bulk of Fox ’s film and TV empire . manufacture analysts expected regulators to take around 12 - 18 month to reach a decision on the purchase . matter were further complicated whenComcastgot involved , making an unsolicited rival bid .

But the story changed this week , when theDepartment of Justice unexpectedly approved the Disney purchaseafter only six months of consideration . The declaration is a crucial one , and it will be interesting to see how Comcast answer ; Disney ’s offer is now a surefire success , while shareholders would risk further regulatory holdup should they push Fox EXEC to view Comcast ’s bid .

Related:Why The Fox/Disney Deal Was A Lot More Likely After AT&T/Warner

This is all the more surprising given President Trump had made a great deal of antitrust worry while on the cause track , railing against theAT&T / Time Warner dealin peculiar . The Department of Justice really sued in an attempt to keep that bid , but were ultimately stillborn . analyst had conceive their failure to prevent the AT&T / Time Warner merger would be watch by industry as a unripe Light Within for further unification , and would leave Disney and Fox a lot more positive their own proposals would be sanction . But just how has the approval come so rapidly ?

Why: Disney Knew Exactly What They Wanted

Disney went into the proposed deal with a unclouded sense of its priority . The company ’s master goal has essentially been to acquire the Fox content , making Disney ’s online cyclosis service - due to launch next year - even more competitive . Just as with the AT&T / Time Warner uniting , the Disney / Fox tidy sum is cautiously aim to espouse up a significant subject matter library with a strong global dispersion system . Meanwhile , Disney is also focused on the potential difference of specific franchises , most notablyAvatar . Walter Elias Disney CEO have long consider there ’s a impregnable potential synergy between the upcomingAvatarfilms and further theme ballpark launching ; their finish is to essentially build a competition for the Wizarding World theme parks . Although most fan conversation has revolve around the idea of add theX - Men and the Fantastic Four into the MCU , that ’s a beneficial side - effect of the whole deal , rather than its key direction .

These clean precedence have allow Disney to react with speed to the Department of Justice ’s concerns . The Justice Department focused in on the possible impact of the deal on cable sport programming , a particular in the finalized flock that had always seemed probable to be challenged by regulators . Rather than argue the caseful , Disney fleetly agreed to disinvest itself of Fox ’s 22 regional mutation internet should the wad go in the lead . Makan Delrahim , the head of the department ’s antitrust segmentation , toldBloomberg : " Today ’s closure will see to it that sports scheduling competition is preserved in the local markets where Disney and Fox contend for cable length and planet distribution . " take exception the Justice Department ’s concerns could have taken month , but Disney plainly choose to join forces , signalise up to the form of morphological remedy that Delrahim seems to be fond of .

Meanwhile , it ’s become clear that Disney ’s intact bid was cautiously constructed for a quick determination by regulator . AsVarietynote , there were no license transfer involved in the deal , meaning it did n’t demand to go before the FCC for approval . That would likely have involve the uniting being put on the docket for public gossip .

Related:Disney Buying Fox Would Be Bad News For Hollywood

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of all this is the fact that the Justice has n’t commented on the potential shock this will have on the photographic film and television set manufacture . Larry Downes , senior manufacture and excogitation fellow at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy , toldVarietythat he was " very surprised " the DoJ greenlit this so swiftly at the very same time they were fight against the AT&T / Time Warner hatful . The Justice Department come out to have been slow down about the horizontal merger of the studios and their content , or even Disney ’s gaining a controlling interest in Hulu . It ’s possible the political living for the Disney / Fox transaction has made a difference ; President Trump himself verbalise his funding for Disney ’s bidding .