U.S. Walt Disney raises bid for Twenty-First Century Fox assets

U.S. entertainment giant Walt Disney has raised its bid for Twenty-First Century Fox assets for $71.3 billion, topping Comcast’s $65 billion offer.

The new offer of $38 a share, which would be split 50-50 in cash and stock, is $10 higher than Disney’s first bid in December 2017. Comcast’s last bid was for $35 a share in cash.

Fox shares jumped 8.5 percent to $48.50 in premarket trading, while Comcast was up 2.1 percent at $33.50. Shares of Disney added 0.6 percent to $106.74.

Disney and Comcast are battling to win Fox’s movie and television studios at a time when legacy media and distribution companies are looking to expand to better compete with newer media firms like Netflix that sell their content directly to viewers.