The Walt Disney Company has announced the purchase of the remaining 33% of Hulu (after owning two-thirds of the company since 2009). With the acquisition, Disney becomes the full owner of the video streaming platform. According to a statement on their website:
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) announced today that it will acquire the 33% stake in Hulu, LLC held by NBC Universal (NBCU) from Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), following Comcast's Nov. 1 exercise of its right under the sales/purchase agreement between the two companies.
Disney - according to the agreement - will pay "approximately $8.61 billion" to NBCU (with a December 1 deadline). To complete the transaction and carry out the "underwriting" of the deal, the companies undertook the services of JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. The multinational indicated the purchase should be completed "during the year 2024":
Under the terms of the sale/purchase agreement, by December 1, Disney expects to pay NBCU approximately $8.61 billion, which represents NBCU's percentage of the $27.5 billion minimum guaranteed value for Hulu that was established when the companies signed their agreement in 2019.
Disney's problems
Disney is currently facing several problems. Among them: their shares have plummeted and are at their lowest level in the last nine years, on television they are not doing as well as they expected (the subscriptions on Disney Plus also suffered a big drop). Additionally, to further exacerbate their problems, one must add to the fact that some of their latest film releases have accumulated losses of up to $1 billion.
Likewise, the controversies they have are due in part to supporting the LGBT lobby. Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, also declared war on the Walt Disney Company and their privileges have since been reduced. In addition, the new board charged with overseeing Walt Disney World eliminated diversity and equity programs.
All these problems have led Disney to reinvent itself and according to a statement on its website, the recent purchase of Hulu is intended to "further the streaming goals" of Disney. The video platform had (already at the beginning of this year) more than 48 million subscribers and its popularity is increasing every day:
Acquiring Comcast's stake in Hulu at fair market value will further Disney's streaming goals.
