UNDER PRESSURE

Fox Sets Date for Vote on $52-Billion Disney Deal

The move puts pressure on rival buyer Comcast to make an offer.

On Wednesday, 21st Century Fox announced that it would hold a shareholders meeting on July 10 to debate a merger with the Walt Disney Company, after Disney offered to buy Fox’s film, television, and international businesses for $52.4 million in stock last December. The announcement puts pressure on Comcast, which has expressed interest in buying most of Fox’s media assets but has not yet made a competing offer. In order to delay the deal, Comcast announced last week that they were preparing a higher, all-cash offering—but sources for The New York Times report that the offer will not proceed unless a federal judge approves ATT’s upcoming acquisition of Time Warner Inc. Fox invited Comcast's competing offer in the Wednesday statement, noting that it may postpone the meeting if another “event” requires additional time.