The Merger of Tezuka Entertainment Group and Fox Corporation

The Fox-Tezuka Merger took place on January 31, 2019.

Early Information
On August 12, 2017, ABC News reported that Fox Corporation was in talks with James R. Tezuka to merge and acquire Tezuka Entertainment Group, including their film, television, publishing, and other entertainment assets. According to Fox's CEO, James Murdoch, the idea of purchasing Tezuka Entertainment Group came after Fox launched their streaming service called FOX+ in late 2016, and Las Vegas approved Fox's new theme park called Fox Entertainment Resort in early 2017.

The merger will also include rights to franchises from Capcom, Tezuka Productions, Rovio, Tatsunoko Productions, Maurício de Sousa Productions, and other assets.

And this will also include their joint-venture company Fox-Tezuka Studios.

On September 1, 2017, it was reported that Viacom, Sony, Toho, Disney, and Google have also joined the bidding war for Tezuka Entertainment.

Bidding War Between Viacom and Fox
On December 16, 2017, it was reported that Viacom spoke to investment banks about topping Fox's offer to acquire Tezuka.

Several Tezuka investors said they would be open to terminating the company's agreement with Fox if Viacom followed through on its plan to launch a rival all-cash bid for $60 billion.

The following week, Viacom publicly announced it was looking into making an all-cash counter-offer for Tezuka Entertainment that Fox proposed to acquire. Shortly after, it was reported that Fox was looking into making its all-cash counter-offer for Tezuka if Viacom went through with their offer.

The next day, Fox and Tezuka announced they had set their shareholder vote meetings for January 2, 2018, although both said Tezuka's meeting could be postponed if Viacom came through with their offer.

On December 31, Disney was approved by District Judge Richard J. Leon to acquire RKO Entertainment, easing concerns Viacom had regarding whether government regulators would block their bid for Tezuka. Consequently, the next day, Viacom mounted a bid of $65 billion for Tezuka Entertainment that was set to be acquired by Fox.

On January 11, 2018, it was reported that Fox will add to its already existing $52 billion claims to contest Viacom's proposed counter-offer for Tezuka.

On January 20, 2018, Fox and Tezuka announced they had amended their previous merger agreement, upping Fox's offer to $71.3 billion, while also offering shareholders the option of receiving cash instead of stock.

On January 29, 2018, the United States Department of Justice gave antitrust approval to Fox and Tezuka.

On February 3, 2018, Viacom officially announced it was dropping its bid on Tezuka.

Road to Completion
On February 9, 2018, the European Commission approved the Fox-Tezuka merger under the condition of Fox selling their 50% interest of the Endemol Shine Group to another company within 90 days of closing if the merger was completed, to which the company has agreed.

On February 12, 2018, Japan's regulators approved the Fox-Tezuka merger, After obtaining approval from Japan, Fox said it still needed to obtain regulatory approval from several other regulators, such as India, Brazil, and China.

On April 16, 2018, China's regulators approved the merger without any conditions.

On May 21, 2018, it was reported that the deal is expected to close by either late 2018 or early 2019.

Pre-Merger
On June 18, 2018, Fox announced a new organizational structure for Fox Entertainment Group and the individual unit heads who would join the company.

On June 26, 2018, Fox and Tezuka announce that they will be re-branding into Fox-Tezuka Corporation after the merger was completed.

On July 14, Fox announced a new organizational structure for its international operations and the individuals who would join the company.

On August 5, Fox and Tezuka announced that the merger will be completed on November 1, 2018.

Post-Merger
On November 1, 2018, The merger was completed, and Fox Corporation and Tezuka Entertainment Group were re-branded to Fox-Tezuka Corporation.

On December 14, 2018, Fox-Tezuka announced that Osamu Tezuka Film Distribution will be folded into 20th Century Fox and its assets will be ether folded, sold, discontinued, or becoming new units.

On December 28, 2018, Fox-Tezuka announced that they will be selling United Nippon Films and Ocean Pictures.

It was reported on January 7, 2019, that Fox-Tezuka would sell their 30% stake in Hulu to Disney to focus more on FOX+.

On January 11, 2019, Fox-Tezuka announced that they are planning to make films and TV series based on Tezuka's properties.

On March 31, 2019, James Murdoch announced that he will be stepping down as CEO of Fox-Tezuka causing James R. Tezuka to become the new and current CEO of Fox-Tezuka.

On June 18, 2019, Fox-Tezuka announced that they will be reorganizing their studios.

On July 9, 2019, Fox-Tezuka announced that they will be making movies and TV series exclusively on FOX+.

On December 15, 2019, Fox-Tezuka was in talks to acquire Paradox Interactive but they declined the offer.

In March 2020, Fox-Tezuka announced that they will be delaying their theatrical releases and some of their upcoming releases and moving some of them to FOX+ due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Summer 2020, Fox-Tezuka announced that some of their delayed films will have new release dates for late 2020 to early 2021.