So much for that bidding war between Disney and Comcast, huh?

Disney has put up a new massive bid of $71.3 billion that seems to have satisfied Fox and its shareholders. But, does this mean that Comcast is already out for the count and this bidding war might still be on? No, it seems likely that this skirmish has come to an end. Comcast was already pushing it with their counter bid of $65 billion in cash. If they were successful, it would have put them in a massive amount of debt, which isn’t even including their efforts in buying Sky, which combined with their bid for Fox, would have potentially ballooned their debt to upwards of $170 billion.

Comcast can’t even offer stock, since their own stock doesn’t hold a candle to Disney, so all they can offer is cash.

However, I was wondering how Disney won over the shareholders so easily and quickly. Looking into the details of this new bid, it was Disney giving each Fox shareholder the option to take their payment in the form of cash or stock. Disney’s previous bids have been exclusively stock, while Comcast’s has been cash, which is what started the shareholders initial hesitation in accepting Disney’s bid in the first place. So, this new offer seems to have satisfied each stockholder’s individual preference for cash or stock.

Now, unless Comcast wants to drown itself in debt, this fight might finally be over and the X-Men and Fantastic Four will be coming home to join Iron Man, Captain America, and Spider-Man by this time next year.

Source: Bloomberg