Comcast proposed the deal earlier today to buy the Walt Disney Company for stock valued at about $54bn (£28.9bn) with an additional $11.9bn in Disney debt, valuing the deal at about $66bn.
Comcast has proposed exchanging 0.78 of a Comcast class A share for each Disney share, which values Disney at $26.47 a share and represents a 10% premium over Disney's current share price.
News of the deal lifted Disney's battered stock, sending it 16% higher in early trading while Comcast shares fell 8%.
If the deal is successful Comcast will join the ranks of Time Warner, News Corporation and Viacom as one of the world's largest media companies combining Disney's film studio, the ABC television network, ESPN sports network and theme parks.
"This is a unique opportunity for all shareholders of Comcast and Disney to create a new leader of the entertainment and communications industry," Comcast president and chief executive Brian L Roberts said in a statement.
Comcast said it was making its unsolicited offer after Disney chief executive Michael Eisner refused to enter discussions.
Analysts have said that with the pressure Disney is under, particularly from Roy Disney and his supporters, the board may be open to Comcast's buyout offer.
"Our management team has a proven track record of successful integration of our merger partners," Roberts said.
Roy Disney, a former Disney director and nephew of company founder Walt Disney, along with Stanley Gold, has been trying to oust Eisner for sometime. The pair and their supporters have accused Eisner of mismanaging Disney over the past decade.
The two have said that Disney's stock has underperformed for the past nine years, dropping to levels not seen since 1996, and that the board lacks the independence to challenge Eisner. They are pushing for institutional shareholders to vote reject re-election of Eisner and other directors at a shareholders meeting early next month.
Eisner is under tremendous pressure, which increased last month when Disney failed to renew a film deal with the animation studio Pixar Animation Studios, which was behind the Disney smash hits 'Finding Nemo' and 'Toy Story'. Disney claimed that Pixar was asking for too much cash.
If Comcast is successful it would be the second deal of such magnitude it has pulled off in recent years. In 2002 it successfully closed a $72bn deal to buy AT&T Corp's cable business AT&T Broadband.
Earlier today Comcast released a letter sent to Eisner and indicated that Eisner had personally rejected Roberts' offer earlier in the week. Roberts claimed that it was unfortunate that Eisner rejected to have a discussion about the deal. "Given this, the only way for us to proceed is to make a public proposal directly to you and you board", the letter stated.
Speculation first arose about Comcast's ambitions arose last summer after it hired former Universal Studios boss Frank Bondi as a consultant. The new company would have a presence in all of the nation's top 25 markets.
Comcast has more than 21m cable television subscribers across 35 US states and the District of Columbia. In October it reported net income of $3.18bn.
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