Nod for Disney’s $73.1B Acquisition of Fox Entertainment

Image via Michael Mandiberg/Flickr CC

NEW YORK (AP) — Disney’s DIS $71.3 billion acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox’s FOXA entertainment division is one step closer after shareholders approves the deal Friday.

The tie-up brings together Marvel’s X-Men and Avengers franchises and creates an entertainment behemoth in the digital streaming era. The shareholder vote caps a saga that began in December 2017, when Disney made its first offer for part of Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate. It kicked off a bidding war with Comcast CMCSA, which dropped out last week focus on attempted buyout of the European pay-TV operator Sky.

The Fox deal will help Disney compete with technology players like Amazon AMZN and Netflix NFLX. The agreement is not expected to close for several months and still requires regulatory approvals.