Shareholders approve Disney’s £54bn acquisition of Fox entertainment

The 21st Century Fox logo outside its New York office (AP) Credit: AP/Press Association Images

Disney’s 71.3 billion dollar (£54 billion) acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox’s entertainment division is one step closer after shareholders approved the deal.

The tie-up brings together Marvel’s X-Men and Avengers franchises and creates an entertainment behemoth in the digital streaming era.

The shareholder vote caps a saga that began in December 2017, when Disney made its first offer for part of Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate.

It kicked off a bidding war with Comcast, which dropped out last week to focus on an attempted buyout of Sky.

The Fox deal will help Disney compete with technology players like Amazon and Netflix.

The agreement is not expected to close for several months and still requires regulatory approvals.