Regulatory Fears Helped Sway Fox Toward Disney Deal

The Walt Disney Co.’s pending deal to buy certain assets of 21st Century Fox were briefly interrupted by a larger offer from Comcast, but the cable giant’s reluctance to offer a termination fee and concerns that the transaction would face stiff resistance from regulatory bodies pushed Fox towards a less lucrative deal with Disney, according to federal filings. Fox’s fears were bolstered by the Department of Justice’s decision to block another large vertical merger – AT&T and Time Warner Inc. – that was eerily similar to a Comcast pairing.