Disney acquires the bulk of 21st Century Fox in $52.4B deal

Disney has penned a $52.4 billion agreement to acquire the bulk of 21st Century Fox, including the company's film and television businesses and the licenses owned by those subsidiaries. 

When the deal closes, the move will become one of the largest mergers in the entertainment business to-date while also adding another notable name to the list of major acquisitions Disney has made in recent memory, alongside LucasFilm and Marvel.

The agreement sees Disney taking control of most of 21st Century Fox, including the film and television business nestled under the 20th Century Fox branch. According to Polygon, this means that Disney potentially owns the rights to many significant Fox properties including X-Men, Alien, and Avatar through Fox's film business, adding those to the many other notable brands it has access to. 

The deal also gives Disney ownership of the FX cable network and Fox's 30 percent stake of Hulu, which combines with Disney's own 30 percent to make the give the company a majority stake.

The deal will have to undergo regulatory review from the Justice Department before anything can be set in stone, however, a process that could take up to a year. If the deal closes, Fox will then spin the broadcasting network, news division, and national sports networks not included in the deal into a separate company.