Mergers & acquisitions

: an entertainment and media conglomerate

Abstract

The entertainment and media landscape is considered as a rapidly changing and highly growing industry. Due to increasing M&A activity and changing consumer demand for experiences and interactions with high-quality content, entertainment and media companies are advised to innovate their products and user experience with focus on digitalization. This thesis considers an acquisition of Time Warner by 21st Century Fox, two of the biggest companies in the entertainment and media industry. First of all, common practices of M&A deals with focus on valuation methods and value generation through a combination of two companies are revised and clarified. In addition, the entertainment industry and the companies are analyzed by focusing on trends, competition and historical financial performance. After this, the economic reasoning of the acquisition of Time Warner by Fox is determined. Both companies are valued independently and as a combined firm. As a result, the combination of these companies seems to be the perfect strategic and economic fit. The deal would create a leading position in the film and TV production and would reduce the upcoming competition from online and streaming companies. Moreover, both firms would not lose its negotiation power with cable companies concerning carriage fees of their content. The estimated value of synergies is $26,78bn, undermining the high potential of this entertainment and media conglomerate. Fox would have to pay around $100 per share constituting a premium of 16,1% with regard to Time Warner’s estimated fair share price of $86,15.

Date of Award	27 Oct 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António Borges de Assunção (Supervisor)