Fox Family network sold

Monday, July 23, 2001 | 11:08 a.m.

LOS ANGELES -- The Walt Disney Co. is buying the children's cable network Fox Family Worldwide Inc. for $3 billion in cash plus the assumption of $2.3 billion in debt.

The deal announced today adds another major cable outlet to Disney's portfolio, which already includes ESPN, the Disney Channel and stakes in A&E and Lifetime. The Fox Family Channel, which Disney plans to rename ABC Family, reaches about 81 million subscribers in the United States.

Disney bought Fox Family from News Corp. and Saban Entertainment Inc., which each owned 49.5 percent of the company. The sale came about after Saban, a major children's programmer which created the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," exercised its right to have News Corp. buy out its share.

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