Disney Exploring Purchase of Twitter

ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
Original Poster
From Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...working-with-adviser-on-potential-twitter-bid

The Walt Disney Co. is working with a financial adviser to evaluate a possible bid for Twitter Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

After receiving interest in discussing a deal, Twitter has started a process to evaluate a potential sale. Salesforce.com Inc. is also considering a bid, working with Bank of America on the process, according to other people, who declined to be named because the matter is private.

Representatives for Twitter and Disney didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Speculation that Twitter will be sold has been gathering steam in recent months, including last week’s news of Salesforce’s interest, given the social media company’s slumping stock price and difficulties in attracting new users and advertising revenue. Disney, if it decides to make a bid, would be able to help the company further its video-streaming media strategy. Jack Dorsey, chief executive officer of Twitter, is also on the board of Disney.
Twitter shares reversed previous declines on the news of interest from Disney, rising as much as 2 percent. The shares were trading at $22.83 at 2:02 p.m. in New York. The stock soared 21 percent Friday following reports of the talks with Salesforce. Disney shares fell, dropping as much as 2 percent to $91.40.

“It’s a video distribution play,” said James Cakmak, an analyst at Monness Crespi Hardt & Co. “What Disney has to think about is what is its place in a post cord-cutting world. They are investing in technology for distribution -- and this would give them the platform to reach audiences around the world.”

Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger has developed a reputation as a strategic thinker with an appetite for bold bets such as the $7.4 billion acquisition of animation studio Pixar just months after he became CEO.

With Disney’s largest business -- cable TV -- facing shrinking viewers and more competition from online video services, Iger has invested in technology-related media businesses, including Hulu, the video streaming service, digital media company Vice and BAMTech, which provides the platform for online video services such as HBO Now.

Iger has sought to increase Disney’s new media expertise, adding Dorsey and Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg to the company’s board in recent years.

(c) Bloomberg
 
Magenta Panther

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
I just started a thread about this in the Disney Company forum...

As for this: Bob Iger has developed a reputation as a strategic thinker with an appetite for bold bets such as the $7.4 billion acquisition of animation studio Pixar just months after he became CEO.

Oh, Bloomberg, you're such a suck-up. What was "bold" about the Pixar acquisition? Iger would have been an idiot if he hadn't tried to buy Pixar. Nearly losing that partnership helped kick Eisner out the door!
 
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
Original Poster
Now that I posted the article - Disney is once again going after a tech company which is bleeding money which and which has no prospects of ever showing a profit, I can SEE Salesforce buying them and adding a messaging component to their offering but Disney (full disclosure I use Salesforce) nothing but Bob Iger's Ego at work here and now we have context to his comment 'Disney is now a Tech Company'.
 
Magenta Panther

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
ford91exploder said:
Now that I posted the article - Disney is once again going after a tech company which is bleeding money which and which has no prospects of ever showing a profit, I can SEE Salesforce buying them and adding a messaging component to their offering but Disney (full disclosure I use Salesforce) nothing but Bob Iger's Ego at work here and now we have context to his comment 'Disney is now a Tech Company'.
Click to expand...

Now, see, even I knew Twitter was losing money. It's been in the news a lot. Is this the Iger strategy? Buying up stuff that's past its prime (and thus cheaply priced) in order to add big names to the company's holdings? Meanwhile he and his toadies cut corners at park attractions and raise prices all over the freaking place. God I can't stand the guy.
 
D

DisneyJayL

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Magenta Panther said:
I just started a thread about this in the Disney Company forum...

As for this: Bob Iger has developed a reputation as a strategic thinker with an appetite for bold bets such as the $7.4 billion acquisition of animation studio Pixar just months after he became CEO.

Oh, Bloomberg, you're such a suck-up. What was "bold" about the Pixar acquisition? Iger would have been an idiot if he hadn't tried to buy Pixar. Nearly losing that partnership helped kick Eisner out the door!
Click to expand...
Well, it was one of many that worked out exceedingly well. Eisner being ousted was the best thing to happen for Disney. Acquisitions of Marvel and Star Wars franchises bolstered Disney for years if not decades to come. Pixar was though a can't miss.
 
Hakunamatata

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
I dont have a thought one way or another on Disney buying Twitter but buying a struggling company like Twitter gets you access to knowledge and information that may be patented or copywrited or otherwise unavailable.
 
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
Original Poster
Mouse Trap said:
It's simple. Three words:

Streaming media play.

It has nothing to do with what Twitter was or is known for now. It's all about what they will become.
Click to expand...

Problem is if Twitter wanted to become a streaming media play company they needed to start the move 2 years ago as that space is already overcrowded. Once again Disney is way late to the party.

Twitter has the reach but no rational investor will fund the transition because there are too many strong players in this space already.

Example have not used my twitter account in years and I pretty much only used it for stuff like mass transit updates for which it was incredibly useful.
 
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
Original Poster
hakunamatata said:
I dont have a thought one way or another on Disney buying Twitter but buying a struggling company like Twitter gets you access to knowledge and information that may be patented or copywrited or otherwise unavailable.
Click to expand...

Or you could buy a competitive player in the same space for a bit more upfront cash and have a platform which MAKES you money instead of costing you money.

The market has figured out that there is no way to Monetize Twitter and well it's shares are reflecting that. Let's face it Twitter was a cool idea at the time allowing users to text across systems when that was HARD to do, But now ??? It's a solution to a problem which no longer exists.
 
Mouse Trap

Mouse Trap

Well-Known Member
ford91exploder said:
Problem is if Twitter wanted to become a streaming media play company they needed to start the move 2 years ago as that space is already overcrowded. Once again Disney is way late to the party.

Twitter has the reach but no rational investor will fund the transition because there are too many strong players in this space already.

Example have not used my twitter account in years and I pretty much only used it for stuff like mass transit updates for which it was incredibly useful.
Click to expand...

The space is far from overcrowded. In fact online content streaming looks nothing like it did 5 years ago and will be entirely different in another 5 years.

When "cable" as we know it migrates to online content streaming, then the fun begins. For now it's cat and mouse.

300+ million monthly active users, 2.5 million of which tuned in for a Thursday night football game on Twitter. The potential is there if the RIGHT company can leverage it.

Foresight my friends, foresight. An acquisition of Twitter byANY company is certainly not being done based on it's current business model.
 
unkadug

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
hakunamatata said:
Nah. Walt would have been on top of all this trendy tech.
Click to expand...
Possibly, but I'd like to think that Walt would still have been a trend setter, not somebody simply snapping up other people's creations. Although he was also known for acquiring good stories and re-purposing them to his standards. So maybe Walt would have bought Twitter. Who knows?
 
Last edited:
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
Original Poster
Mouse Trap said:
It's simple. Three words:

Streaming media play.

It has nothing to do with what Twitter was or is known for now. It's all about what they will become.
Click to expand...

The only place Twitter is going is bankruptcy, It's current platform is speeding towards irrelevancy and there is no room in the market for a dozen streaming media companies perhaps 4-5 tops.
 

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