Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) may make an offer for the parts of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (NYSE: FOXA) that Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) plans to buy. According to The Wall Street Journal:
Cable giant Comcast Corp. is contemplating reviving its pursuit of 21st Century Fox, after its bid for the company’s entertainment assets was turned down despite being over 15% higher than that of eventual buyer Walt Disney Co., according to people familiar with the situation.
Disney struck a deal with Fox in December, agreeing to pay $52.4 billion in stock. Fox turned down a Comcast offer that was in the low-$60 billions range, the people said. The assets on the table in both offers were essentially the same, including the Twentieth Century Fox movie and TV studio, international pay TV properties and some U.S. cable networks.
Broadcom Ltd. (NASDAQ: AVGO) has gotten financial firms to loan it tens of billions of dollars to buy Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM). According to The Wall Street Journal:
Broadcom Ltd. secured as much as $100 billion of debt financing for its hostile bid for Qualcomm Inc. QCOM 2.52% and enlisted two more big private-equity firms, strengthening the chip giant’s hand in the takeover battle.
A dozen banks—including Bank of America Corp. , Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley —have agreed to provide up to $100 billion of committed credit facilities, including a $5 billion revolver and bridge financing, according to people familiar with the matter.
Private-equity firms KKR KKR and CVC Capital Partners agreed to join Silver Lake in providing $6 billion in convertible debt for the deal and postclosing working-capital needs, the people said.
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Sex drama “Fifty Shades Freed” topped the box office last weekend. According to Box Office Mojo:
The weekend delivered mostly on expectations with the week’s three new wide releases taking the top three spots at the box office. Leading the way was Universal’s Fifty Shades Freed, pushing the Fifty Shades franchise over $1 billion globally. Sony’s release of Peter Rabbit actually topped expectations while Clint Eastwood’s The 15:17 to Paris was a little late arriving in the station, coming up a bit short of Mojo’s pre-weekend forecast.
With an estimated $38.8 million, Universal’s Fifty Shades Freed topped the weekend box office. While the number is almost spot on with Mojo’s pre-weekend expectations it once again shows a decline within the franchise from one film to the next, coming up short of the $46.6 million opening for Fifty Shades Darker one year ago. By the end of its run, Darker pulled in $114.5 million domestically and should Freed deliver a similar multiplier it would be looking at a domestic run right around $95 million based on this weekend’s estimate.
Demand for two of Ford Motor Co.’s (NYSE: F) large sport utility vehicles will cause it to increase production. According to CNBC:
With demand for its redesigned full-size SUV’s surging, Ford is expanding production of the Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.
The automaker will be increasing production of the two SUV’s by approximately 25 percent. Both models are manufactured at Ford’s truck plant in Louisville, Kentucky.
The sale of Weinstein Co. may be delayed by a major lawsuit by the New York attorney general. According to CNBC:
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said on Sunday he had filed suit against The Weinstein Company:
Schneiderman said in a statement that any sale of The Weinstein Company must ensure that victims will be compensated.
The studio has been in talks to sell itself to a group of investors led by former Obama administration official Maria Contreras-Sweet, but Scheiderman’s lawsuit has put deal negotiations on hold, according to people familiar with the matter.
A major pharmaceutical company said it would stop marketing opioids to physicians. According to CNNMoney:
More than a decade after Purdue Pharma was first criticized by the federal government for its “aggressive” marketing of the addictive painkiller OxyContin, the company says it will stop promoting the opioid to doctors.
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