June 20th, 2018
The Walt Disney Company has increased their bid to $71.3 billion in stock and cash. This was in response to Comcast's offer of $65 billion of all cash that was proposed last week.
This proposed bid is huge in the old media industry, showing the need to expand into international markets and building necessary content. The deal includes "Fox's movie production business as well as networks National Geographic and FX, Star TV, stakes in Sky, Endemol Shine Group, Hulu and regional sports networks." (CNBC Liz Moyer)
Those assets are important for Disney but they weren't completely necessary, especially for $71 billion. With that being said, the opportunity Disney has to create more massive box office hits, as well as beefing up their Disney branded streaming service, will see a fantastic future growth for the company. Their stock price desperately needs a revival, but by spending $71 billion there is a chance of a drop in the short term, but now their long term projections have increased. With their stock basically going sideways for over a year, they need a catalyst to truly show the potential to Wall Street and to get rid of the ESPN plague narrative.
