Disney Executive Says Fox Deal Is "Almost Done and Closed"

It's been more than a year since the first reports that The Walt Disney Company was moving to purchase 21st Century Fox first surfaced online, and now the deal is almost complete. We're on the verge of perhaps the biggest Hollywood shake-up in history.

According to Disney's chairman of direct-to-consumer and international offers Kevin Mayer, the completion of the deal is just aroudn the corner.

"The deal closing keeps me up at night, but it is almost done and closed," Mayer said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm eager to execute. I'm eager to get these services out in the public's hands. That is an excitement more than it is a nervousness."

Mayer has been involved with this deal since the very beginning, as he was one of the biggest dealmakers for Fox, and had a big hand in making the merger happen. After the purchase had been agreed to, Mayer was brought over to Disney to oversee ESPN+, the coming launch of the Disney+ streaming service, and the company's stake in Hulu.

While working on the deal late last year, Mayer was confident that it would go through, no matter what hurdles were in the way.

"It was always clear that the transaction made a great deal of strategic sense," he said. "With that in the back of your mind, you always think you can overcome most of the day-to-day travails of doing a deal like this. There were a couple of times where it looked like there was a problem. We overcame it.

"It was the biggest [deal] we've ever done. We did have a moment or two when there was a disconnect in terms of value, but that's to be expected. We didn't pay a price we thought was unfair at any point."

The merger has been going through the tumultuous approval process over the last year, but it has long been believed that it would be officially completed in early 2019. With that in mind, it could be a matter of weeks before Disney's purchase of Fox is finalized.