The Walt Disney Company (DIS) and Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA) on Tuesday announced the deadline for Fox stockholders to elect a form of consideration for the takeover deal between the two media giants.
According to a joint statement, the deadline for the shareholders to elect the consideration form would be 5:00 pm ET on March 14, 2019.
The companies also announced that Twenty-First Century Fox is expected to distribute all issued and outstanding shares of Fox Corporation common stock at approximately 8:00 am ET on March 19, 2019 to Twenty-First Century Fox shareholders on a pro-rata basis and for the acquisition to become effective on 12:02 am ET on March 20, 2019.
“There is no guarantee that any (Twenty-First Century Fox) stockholder will receive the form of consideration he, she or it elects on its Election Form if the Acquisition closes. After the Election Deadline, Disney will calculate the amount of cash and/or shares of New Disney common stock to be distributed to each (Twenty-First Century Fox) stockholder based on all valid elections received and in accordance with the Merger Agreement,” read the joint agreement.
A MAMMOTH DEAL
The $71.3-billion Disney offer to buy 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets has been touted as a gamechanger. With the last quarter of 2018 seeing the companies receive the European Commission approval along with other regulators giving an OK.
The US Justice Department approved the deal in June 2018, after agreeing to divest Fox’s 22 regional sports networks.
This deal looks to unite Mickey Mouse, Luke Skywalker and Marvel superheroes with Fox’s X-Men, Avatar and The Simpsons franchises.
Disney now owns ABC, ESPN, Pixar, Marvel Studios and “Star Wars” maker Lucasfilm. The deal would add cable group with FX Networks, National Geographic and over 300 international channels, along with Fox’s stake in Netflix-competitor Hulu.
