Comcast has now confirmed that it is in “advanced stages” of preparing an all-cash bid for the assets of 21st Century Fox, countering the $52.4 billion offer from Disney.
The NBCUniversal owner and No. 1 U.S. cable distributor says that any offer for Fox would be at a “premium to the value of the current all-share offer from Disney,” and although no price has been specified yet, their bid is said to be in the $60 billion range.
This is not set in stone yet, however, and under the terms of Disney’s proposed deal, Fox would have to pay a breakup fee of $1.52 billion if they decided to pull out of the pact for any reason not related to a regulatory body blocking the transaction.
Could Disney still make a counter-offer? We'll just have to wait and see how things shake out, but as of right now, things don't look good for the legions of fans hoping to see the The X-Men and Fantastic Four back home with Marvel Studios.