Telecommunications conglomerate, Comcast, has announced that it will no longer compete for the shares offered by Twenty-First Century Fox. Comcast’s decision automatically means that Walt Disney will be the new owner of the Fox shares.

Speculation over the shares began a few weeks ago when Fox announced that it was looking to sell its business interests in media and entertainment in order to focus on news.

Since then, analysts have seen a bitter fight between contenders for the Fox shares, which will be worth over $40 billion. However, the biggest of these has undoubtedly been Comcast and Disney.

In the past, rumors have circulated that Fox favors Disney and hopes to sell the shares to the entertainment conglomerate. The rumors, however, did not result in any action and the battle between Disney and Comcast raged on.

Now, however, Comcast has thrown in the towel and given Disney the prize. Speaking of its decision, Comcast said, “When a set of assets like Fox’s become available, it is our responsibility to evaluate if there is a strategic fit that could benefit our company and our shareholders”.

The company explained that they had attempted to review the benefits and were no longer “engaged” in doing so. Comcast had certainly approached Fox in mid- November expressing interest over the assets.

The assets Fox is auctioning could have changed Comcast’s influence on the international market. Comcast would have achieved power over European television through the pay TV provider Sky.

Additionally, it would have developed a presence in India through Fox’s subsidiary, Star network. Disney however is still in negotiations with Fox and with Comcast’s exit chances are that a deal could be announced soon.

Neither Disney nor Fox has commented on the impending deal.