Disney is set to pay for Comcast’s stake in Hulu which is in excess of $8 billion. This simply means that Disney is about to own all of Hulu in the event that the deal goes through.
Disney to Pay for Comcast’s Stake in Hulu
Disney is reportedly buying up the stake of Comcast in Hulu. The entertainment giant and conglomerate just announced on Wednesday that it “expects it will pay” $8.61 billion to purchase the 33 percent stake of Comcast, thus giving Disney the full ownership of Hulu.
But Disney might just end up paying more than that price. Both Disney and Comcast reportedly agreed to an appraisal process that will evaluate the equity fair value of Hulu as of September 30th. And if the stake of Comcast is determined “to be greater than the guaranteed floor value,” Disney will however have to pay Comcast the said difference.
Disney’s Take on Recent Development
Disney has stated that the timing of the appraisal process is “uncertain,” but it however expects it to be completed sometime in the coming year. This in question all stems from the deal that Disney made with Comcast to purchase its one-third stake in Hulu back in 2019. The deal in question was initially set to take place in the year 2024, but Comcast and Disney on the other hand both agreed to move the date to September 30th.
The two companies at the time both agreed upon a minimum valuation of $27.5 billion for Hulu. “That was just a hypothetical that we picked five years ago,” Comcast CEO Brian Roberts during an investor’s conference in September stated. “The company is way more valuable today than it was then.”
Disney Announced a Price Increase across All of Its Streaming Services
With Hulu barely seeing a shift in subscribers in the previous quarter, Disney reportedly announced a price increase across all of its streaming services and then hinted at a password-sharing crackdown. The ad-free service of Hulu in October went from $14.99 / month to $17.99 / month, while Hulu with Live TV on the other hand will jump from $68.99 / month to $75.99 / month. We will very much likely hear more in regards to Disney’s plans for Hulu during the earnings call of the company in the coming week.
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