Shareholders of 21st Century Fox and Disney have voted to approve Disney’s $71.3 billion buyout of major Fox assets.
Gerson Zweifach, general counsel of 21st Century Fox, told Fox shareholders the merger is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019.
Led by Disney general counsel Alan Braverman and CFO Christine McCarthy, the vote took less than 10 minutes and received near unanimous approval from Disney shareholders.
The shareholder vote seals the deal for Disney after it prevailed in a tussle with Comcast over bids for the 21st Century Fox assets, which include the 20th Century Fox studio, FX Networks, National Geographic Partners, and other entertainment assets.
After the sale, Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch will head the company now dubbed New Fox, which will comprise Fox Broadcasting Co. and Fox’s TV station group, Fox Sports and Fox News.
Zweifach told Fox shareholders that the date change for the meeting created scheduling conflicts for numerous Fox board members.
I want to thank all of our executives and colleagues for their enormous contributions in building 21st Century Fox over the past decades. »