White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders relayed President Donald Trump‘s thoughts on the recent Disney/Fox merger at a press conference on Thursday morning.
“I know that the president spoke with Rupert Murdoch earlier today, congratulated him on the deal and thinks that, to use one of the president’s favorite words, this could be a great thing for jobs and certainly looks forward to a lot more of those being created,” Huckabee Sanders said in response to a question about Trump’s feelings on the new merger.
The Walt Disney Co. agreed early Thursday morning to acquire big parts of 21st Century Fox in an all-stock deal worth $52.4 billion, or approximately $66.1 billion when including debt, valuing shares of Fox at around $40 apiece while they had traded Wednesday at $32.75. Current Disney boss Bob Iger also extended his contract as chairman and CEO through the end of 2021.
The deal makes Murdoch, executive chairman of Fox, and sons James (CEO) and Lachlan (executive co-chairman) key shareholders of Disney stock. Fox shareholders are expected to end up with about a 25 percent stake in Disney, with the Murdoch family trust owning around 5 percent, according to Bloomberg estimates.
The comments regarding Trump come at the 8:03 mark in the video below.
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