36 Bruno S. Sergi, James Owers, ISSN 2071-789X Alison Alexander RECENT ISSUES IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Sergi, B. S., Owers, J., & Alexander, A. (2019). Valuation changes associated with the FOX/Disney divestiture transaction. Economics and Sociology, 12(2), 36-47. doi:10.14254/2071-789X.2019/12-2/2 VALUATION CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH THE FOX/DISNEY DIVESTITURE TRANSACTION ABSTRACT. The purpose of this paper is to examine and Bruno S. Sergi calibrate valuation changes associated with the negotiating Harvard University, USA firms in a significant Corporate Control Contest and & University of Messina, Italy Media Restructuring. It identifies, discusses, and measures E-mail:
[email protected] the valuation consequences for the shareholders of Fox, Disney, and Comcast of each step. In the restructuring, Mergers and Acquisitions of whole firms get most of the James Owers attention in the headlines, but often Divestiture Harvard University, USA transactions involving PARTS of firms are large and & Georgia State University, significant transactions for the firms involved. Media USA firms have been undertaking an extremely high level of E-mail:
[email protected] restructuring as they work to manage the consequences of regulatory change, technological developments and their implications for the delivery of media products, and the Alison Alexander associated changes in the competitive structure of the University of Georgia, industry. The large scale of DIVESTITURE restructuring USA by media firms is illustrated by the 2018 transaction E-mail:
[email protected] involving substantial portions of 21st Century Fox. The whole Fox company is not being sold. But in this study we document the significant value changes for the firms Received: November, 2018 involved as the transaction evolved from November 2017 1st Revision: February, 2019 through July 2018.