Comcast withdraws proposal to merge with Disney

Chicago (IL) - Cable giant Comcast announced to withdraw its $54 billion merger proposal to Disney and shelved plans to create the world’s largest entertainment company.

After repeated rejections of its unsolicited offer to Disney, Comcast has decided to focus on working on its finance rather entering a new mega-merger. "It has become clear that there is no interest on the part of Disney’s management and Board in putting Comcast and Disney together," said Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast indicating some frustration of the bold rejections of Disney. "We have always been disciplined in our approach to aquisitions. Being disciplined means knowing when it is time to walk away. That time is now," he said.

The withdrawal was announced together with the firm’s first qurater results which showed net income of $65 million compared to a loss of $355 million on year ago. Comcast shares rose 1.8 percent to $30.50, Disney shares were slightly up 0.02 percent to $25.14 early Wednesday as reaction to the announcement. A merger between Comcast and Disney would have created the world’s largest entertainment company reaching 21.5 million US households.

Comcast also said it won 35,000 new customers in the most recent quarter mainlky from satellite providers such as DirecTV, added 394,000 cable Internet customers and increased its cash flow to about $400 million.