As expected, Walt Disney Co.'s deal to acquire 21st Century Fox Inc. took effect March 20 at 12:02 a.m. ET, for a total transaction value of about $71 billion.

Disney's acquisition, with a per-share merger value of about $51.57, includes about $19.8 billion of cash and about $19.2 billion of debt of Fox.

Following the closing of the transaction, Fox shareholders are expected to receive their compensation based on their chosen option. Holders of 959,919,192 shares of 21st Century Fox common stock, or about 51.57% of outstanding shares, elected to receive cash, while holders of 682,198,198 shares of 21st Century Fox, or about 36.65% of outstanding shares, elected to receive shares of common stock of TWDC Holdco 613 Corp., the holding company that will own both Disney and 21st Century Fox following the completion of the transactions, also known as New Disney.

The transaction is anticipated to be accretive to Disney earnings per share before the impact of purchase accounting for the second fiscal year after the completion of the deal, which is expected to yield at least $2 billion in cost synergies by 2021 from operating efficiencies from the merger.

Disney's acquisition includes 21st Century Fox's movie and TV studios, the FX Networks and National Geographic Partners and its 22 regional sports networks. Additionally, the agreement gives Disney Fox's stake and a controlling interest in streaming service Hulu LLC.

The completion of the Fox/Disney deal comes a day after 21st Century Fox and Fox Corp.'s split to become two stand-alone public companies.