Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney

The Walt Disney Company announced its acquisition of 21st Century Fox (21CF) on December 14, 2017. As part of their definitive agreement, Disney was to acquire Fox for $52.4 billion in stock (or 0.2745 Disney shares per 21CF share) and assume 21CF's debt obligations for $23.5 billion, totaling the transaction to approximately $66.1 billion. Due to Federal Communications Commission rules prohibiting a merger of two of the Big Four television networks, 21CF would spin-off certain assets, including the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations, Fox News, Fox Business, and Fox Sports, into a separate publicly-traded company immediately prior to the acquisition.

Disney's CEO Bob Iger came up with the idea of the acquisition after Disney acquired a majority control of BAMTech in 2015 as part of efforts to launch their own streaming service (ultimately named Disney+). Development of the acquisition began as early as November 2017, when Disney met with 21CF's CEO Rupert Murdoch to acquire 21CF's entertainment assets, including the film studio 20th Century Fox. Disney formally announced its acquisition of 21CF's entertainment assets the following month. Upon the initial announcement, concerns were raised about the acquisition's potential impact on the entertainment industry, as well as competition with other media companies.

In June 2018, following AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner (subsequently renamed WarnerMedia), Comcast initiated a rival all-cash bid of $65 billion for the targeted assets that Disney intended to purchase. In response, Disney increased its bid to $71.3 billion in cash and stock. After Fox agreed to Disney's amended offer, Comcast withdrew from the deal the following month to focus on its acquisition of Sky Group. The U.S. Justice Department gave antitrust approval to Disney on June 27, on the condition that Disney would divest Fox's regional sports networks. Disney and Fox shareholders approved the deal on July 27, 2018, and following approval from several worldwide regulators, the transaction closed on March 20, 2019.

Apart from the 20th Century Fox film and television studios, Disney also acquired Fox Networks Group, FX Networks, a 73% stake in National Geographic Partners, Indian television broadcaster Star India, and a 30% stake in Hulu. Most remaining assets, including the Fox network, Fox Television Stations, Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Fox Deportes, and the Big Ten Network, were spun-off into Fox Corporation. Other assets such as the Fox Sports Networks and Sky were divested and sold off to Sinclair and Comcast, respectively. Following the acquisition, Disney slowly began phasing out the Fox branding to avoid confusion with Fox Corporation, starting with renaming 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures, respectively, to 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures in 2020. Disney also leased the Fox Studio Lot in Century City for seven years, after which 20th Century and other Disney assets formerly owned by Fox relocated to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.