The Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday that it struck a $52.4 billion, all-stock deal to acquire 20th Century Fox and other assets from Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
The transaction has a total value of $66.1 billion, with Disney assuming $13.7 billion in 21st Century Fox debt. As part of the agreement, Disney CEO and chairman Bob Iger extended his contract for two more years.
"The acquisition of this stellar collection of businesses from 21st Century Fox reflects the increasing consumer demand for a rich diversity of entertainment experiences that are more compelling, accessible and convenient than ever before," Iger, whose tenure was meant to end in 2019, said in a statement. "We're honored and grateful that Rupert Murdoch has entrusted us with the future of businesses he spent a lifetime building, and we're excited about this extraordinary opportunity to significantly increase our portfolio of well-loved franchises and branded content to greatly enhance our growing direct-to-consumer offerings.
The deal will also substantially expand our international reach, allowing us to offer world-class storytelling and innovative distribution platforms to more consumers in key markets around the world."
The acquisition has been rumored for weeks, and many fans wondered how the deal would possibly impact the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For decades, 21st Century Fox has owned the rights to comic book characters from Deadpool, Fantastic Four and X-Men; the current MCU currently licenses characters from properties like Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. Due to complicated
copyrights, both studios have used different versions of characters like Quicksilver.
Read all of the details on the acquisition HERE.
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