Comcast has thrown in the towel in the bidding war to snatch up assets of 21st Century Fox.
The cable giant announced on Thursday that it will instead focus on its bid for British broadcaster Sky.
The decision means Disney's $71 billion agreement to buy most of Fox can proceed unchallenged. Comcast had twice outbid the entertainment giant for those assets. It's last offer in June came in at $65 billion, and [some reports](https://www.wsj.com/articles/comcast-isnt-done-yet-1529524156) suggested bidding could go as high as $80 billion.
"Our focus now is on completing the regulatory process and ultimately moving toward integrating our businesses," said Disney CEO Bob Iger in a statement about the move.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said, "I’d like to congratulate Bob Iger and the team at Disney and commend the Murdoch family and Fox for creating such a desirable and respected company."
The two companies were vying for Fox's film and TV studios, the networks FX and NatGeo, and its stakes in Hulu, India's Star network, andーto complicate thingsーSky.
Fox currently holds a 39 percent stake in Sky and last week offered to buy the rest in a deal that value the company at $32.5 billion. Comcast responded with an all-cash bid of $34 billion, 12 percent higher than what it first offered in February.
"Sky is clearly a crown jewel, you see all this competition for it," said Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey. "It's something that would really give Comcast exposure to international markets, which they don't have. It would be massive for Comcast."
But UK regulators gave Fox the green light last week, which could mean the company would ultimately go to Disney.
A [Wall Street Journal report](https://www.wsj.com/articles/disneys-big-question-how-crucial-is-sky-to-its-fox-deal-1531915200) Wednesday suggested Disney might be willing to do without Sky if it meant avoiding a continued bidding war for Fox. Whether it's willing to sustain a battle for Sky is still a question.
Either way, the merger would further increase competition in the crowded streaming market, said Hagey, author of "The King of Content." Disney announced plans last year to create its own streaming service, which would likely include Fox's content.
"You already have to subscribe to four or five services if you want to watch the show that people are talking about at the water cooler," Hagey said. "It's going to only become more fragmented."
Disney and Fox shareholders are set to vote on their proposed combination on July 27th. The Justice Department approved the deal in late June.
For the full segment, [click here.]( https://cheddar.com/videos/comcast-drops-fox-bid-and-state-of-media-m-and-a)
Ross Gerber, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Gerber Kawaski Wealth and Investment Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says now is a great opportunity to buy low on Tesla after shares fell in light of the EV giant's latest earnings report.
High-speed connectivity solutions provider Credo went public on the Nasdaq on Thursday, raising $200 million in its IPO. CEO Bill Brennan, joined Cheddar to discuss its entry into the capital markets and the next chapter for the company. "We're going to be focused on what we have been focused on, which is really creating, creating innovative connectivity solutions that really pushed the edge on efficient power as well as very effective cost," he said.
BD Veritor is a variation of the at-home COVID test that uses a smartphone to interpret the results. The test is taken via a nose swab test strip that is then scanned by your phone’s camera with the result clearly displayed as positive or negative. James Walker, vice president of integrated diagnostics USA for BD, joined Cheddar to discuss how the test hopefully takes the "guesswork out of testing." Walker also went into what BD is doing to deal with the surging demand for at-home tests amid the omicron spread. "While we don't disclose how much we produce, we have capacity to manufacture up to 12 million rapid antigen tests per month and are delivering on our commitments to distributors and retailers," he said.
Citi recently began collaborating with fitness entrepreneur Tracy Anderson to promote its Custom Cash Credit card. Pam Habner, CEO of U.S. Branded Cards for Citi, along with Tracy Anderson, creator of The Tracy Anderson Method, joined Cheddar to discuss how health and fitness matched up with a cash back credit card. "The fact that Citi is going 'hey if you lead a healthy lifestyle, we're going to help you out. We understand that it's more expensive and we're going to give you cash back for living your best life,'" Anderson said about the partnership, which also includes a custom promotional Spotify playlist.
Stocks closed lower Thursday amid continued volatility. The S&P 500 was down 10% from its record high, the Dow was down 7%, and the Nasdaq was 4% away from bear market territory as it closed 16% below its record high. Investors are still processing this week's Federal Reserve announcement about a potential first rate hike in March. Chris Gaffney, President of World Markets at TIAA Bank, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's close, the Fed's announcement, predictions about interest rate hikes, and more.
Low-code app development platform Crowdbotics raised $22 million in a Series A funding round led by Jackson Square Ventures. Crowdbotics has helped more than 14,000 customers launch apps without having to learn how to code. The company can offer a team of expert developers to help companies launch custom apps, or provide the means for companies to develop apps themselves. Crowdbotics CEO Anand Kulkarni joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Comcast announced that the company has beaten its projected earnings for Q4. However, the telecommunications giant fell short of its predictions for customer growth.
Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims has doubled its valuation to $3.2 billion. Investors have taken a bet on the success of this brand in the form of fresh funds for the two-year-old company.
