Fox says regulatory risk could delay or derail any Comcast bid

21st Century Fox determined that a deal with Comcast has more antitrust risk than its pact with Disney, even after a judge chose not to block AT&T’s takeover of Time Warner. Fox’s management and lawyers — while reviewing Disney’s revised offer in June — concluded that antitrust concerns could scuttle a transaction with Comcast. "While a potential Disney transaction was likely to receive required regulatory approvals and ultimately be consummated, a strategic transaction with Comcast continued to carry higher regulatory risk," it said in a registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That could lead "to the possibility of significant delay in the receipt of merger consideration as well as the risk of an inability to consummate the transactions." It noted that Comcast had issues when it tried to acquire Time Warner Cable, the upcoming expiration of the consent decree it agreed to when it bought NBC Universal in 2011, the changes in network neutrality rules, and the possibility of Comcast getting control of Hulu and Comcast’s ownership of regional sports networks that compete with Fox’s. The Fox board agreed the week of June 18 to an improved, $71.3-billion deal to sell its entertainment assets to Disney, shunning Comcast for the second time in six months.