A Spirited Dirty Dozen ...

[ford91exploder]

It reeks of corporate arrogance, a sign of toxic management culture. It tarnishes the brand and it's self-destructive.

ETA: Here's hoping they get a new CEO with fresh eyes who will clean house and turn it around.

They need more than a new CEO - All of 'Mahogany Row' in Burbank need to be replaced. Realistically the company needs to be split up with a small TWDC owning all the stock for parks and resorts, media networks, studios and consumer products each group needs it's own CEO and board this way each group can succeed or fail on its own and each has a management team who is solely responsible for their line of business.

The top level company would then hold all the stock in the subsidiaries and would be the company listed on the exchanges.

This also eliminates the moral hazard of using earnings for one line of business to prop up another and it would give more transparency to investors as they could see the results from each unit and each unit could be compared against it's peers in the industry.

 

[asianway]

They need more than a new CEO - All of 'Mahogany Row' in Burbank need to be replaced. Realistically the company needs to be split up with a small TWDC owning all the stock for parks and resorts, media networks, studios and consumer products each group needs it's own CEO and board this way each group can succeed or fail on its own and each has a management team who is solely responsible for their line of business.

The top level company would then hold all the stock in the subsidiaries and would be the company listed on the exchanges.

This also eliminates the moral hazard of using earnings for one line of business to prop up another and it would give more transparency to investors as they could see the results from each unit and each unit could be compared against it's peers in the industry.

Sounds intriguing. Any large cap companies structured that way? thanks

 

[SorcererMC]

@DarthFiscus75 Yes, that is what I was referring to. I think that there are no guarantees over the next two years as to TWDC continued success...and maybe they will bring in new blood.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

@DarthFiscus75 Yes, that is what I was referring to. I think that there are no guarantees over the next two years as to TWDC continued success...and maybe they will bring in new blood.

True, Do you think he will make some sort of big move if the AT&T/Time warner deal goes through? Buy/merge with some other big name company?

 

[ford91exploder]

Sounds intriguing. Any large cap companies structured that way? thanks

3M,Tyco and AMP are the best known, Techinically it's called a 'Holding Company' an entity built to own other companies.

 

[SorcererMC]

True, Do you think he will make some sort of big move if the AT&T/Time warner deal goes through? Buy/merge with some other big name company?

Potentially - yes. Rumor has it that Iger is shopping! I could see them purchasing to alleviate some of the content and distribution issues they are facing. M&A is a favorable strategy at the moment.

ETA: I may have said something in another thread to the effect of - money burns a hole in Iger's pocket.

 

[Stripes]

True, Do you think he will make some sort of big move if the AT&T/Time warner deal goes through? Buy/merge with some other big name company?

What big acquisition could they make? The latest rumors of Twitter and Netflix are terrible buys and I don't think Disney wants to buy into the cable business (atrocious customer satisfaction). The only big move I could see, is Apple acquiring Disney.

 

[Hula Popper]

So instead of learning from the GotG backlash that the fans don't want any of it, they take away that they need to shove it down their throats differently.

For the "elites," their way is always the right way and if the masses can't see it, they just aren't understanding and need to messaged differently.

 

[doctornick]

So instead of learning from the GotG backlash that the fans don't want any of it, they take away that they need to shove it down their throats differently.

To be fair though, it doesn't seem to me that the backlash is "we don't want GotG in the parks" but "why are we replacing a good ride with GotG?" I suspect if they announced a new build for a GotG ride, most people would praise it, especially if it is in a thematically appropriate location.

Replacing Energy is an interesting test because it's not nearly as popular a ride as ToT. I think folks will be more accepting of the change, but a sizable number will (understandably) be upset about the location. If Disney were to build a GotG ride new in a "superhero" oriented land in DHS, most people would be totally on board.

 

[doctornick]

What big acquisition could they make? The latest rumors of Twitter and Netflix are terrible buys and I don't think Disney wants to buy into the cable business (atrocious customer satisfaction). The only big move I could see, is Apple acquiring Disney.

I wonder if AT&T will spin off any of Time Warner in order to get some cash to cover the debt of the purchase. I could see Disney being interested in some of the cable channels to compliment what they already have (though the channel they would most likely want -- HBO -- is probably considered the jewel of the acquisition by AT&T and would not be sold).

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

What big acquisition could they make? The latest rumors of Twitter and Netflix are terrible buys and I don't think Disney wants to buy into the cable business (atrocious customer satisfaction). The only big move I could see, is Apple acquiring Disney.

Apple has the money. They can have their products all over the parks. Who knows? I remember reading that Apple has the money reserve to buy Disney. The next few years will be interesting to see big corporations becoming larger and larger - almost monopolies.

 

[Stripes]

I wonder if AT&T will spin off any of Time Warner in order to get some cash to cover the debt of the purchase. I could see Disney being interested in some of the cable channels to compliment what they already have (though the channel they would most likely want -- HBO -- is probably considered the jewel of the acquisition by AT&T and would not be sold).

I could see AT&T spinning off a few of the cable channels from the Turner division, but they would have a very neglible impact to Disney's revenues, assuming they purchased them. AT&T will most certainly keep CNN, HBO, and Warner Bros.

 

[rael ramone]

I wonder if AT&T will spin off any of Time Warner in order to get some cash to cover the debt of the purchase. I could see Disney being interested in some of the cable channels to compliment what they already have (though the channel they would most likely want -- HBO -- is probably considered the jewel of the acquisition by AT&T and would not be sold).

On the FREAK chance that the DOJ approves this, there will be divestitures that will be REQUIRED as conditions for approval - possibly on the cheap. $DIS could go shopping...

 

[Stripes]

Apple has the money. They can have their products all over the parks. Who knows? I remember reading that Apple has the money reserve to buy Disney. The next few years will be interesting to see big corporations becoming larger and larger - almost monopolies.

Indeed, it seems Apple is looking to aggressively expand in entertainment content. Apple has a big problem right now: the iPhone is struggling to produce growth. By purchasing Disney, they would be purchasing a company that does have strong growth, while putting their upcoming Apple TV streaming service on strong footing content-wise.

Apple's cash hoard is at $237.6 billion right now. Disney's market cap is at $150 billion. It would be a massive deal, but DOJ has it in writing that vertical mergers are viewed favorably, whereas horizontal mergers are viewed negatively.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Indeed, it seems Apple is looking to aggressively expand in entertainment content. Apple has a big problem right now: the iPhone is struggling to produce growth. By purchasing Disney, they would be purchasing a company that does have strong growth, while putting their upcoming Apple TV streaming service on strong footing content-wise.

Apple's cash hoard is at $237.6 billion right now. Disney's market cap is at $150 billion. It would be a massive deal, but DOJ has it in writing that vertical mergers are viewed favorably, whereas horizontal mergers are viewed negatively.

Isn't Laurene Jobs the largest shareholder in The company? You made a lot of great points of why they should purchase the company.

 

[Burgower1994]

muppet babies coming to DIsney Junior!
http://www.tvinsider.com/article/10...ey-junior/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=TVGM

 

[SorcererMC]

@DarthFiscus75 (or anyone else who is interested) Speculating on future acquisitions is a bit outside of my comfort zone (I'm thinking that they would continue to acquire stakes in tech-related areas like they did w/ Maker Studios and BAMTech), but here is an interesting LA Times article on how Disney might respond to the potential AT&T/Time-Warner merger.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...ct-disney-dealmaking-20161024-snap-story.html

 

[rael ramone]

Indeed, it seems Apple is looking to aggressively expand in entertainment content. Apple has a big problem right now: the iPhone is struggling to produce growth. By purchasing Disney, they would be purchasing a company that does have strong growth, while putting their upcoming Apple TV streaming service on strong footing content-wise.

Apple's cash hoard is at $237.6 billion right now. Disney's market cap is at $150 billion. It would be a massive deal, but DOJ has it in writing that vertical mergers are viewed favorably, whereas horizontal mergers are viewed negatively.

At this point in time, any merger of large companies (regardless of horizontal vs vertical) is viewed by the politicians as BAD.

Even so, is an $AAPL purchase of $DIS possible w/o repatriating that cash?

 

[DinoInstitute]

Apple has the money. They can have their products all over the parks. Who knows? I remember reading that Apple has the money reserve to buy Disney. The next few years will be interesting to see big corporations becoming larger and larger - almost monopolies.

 

[ford91exploder]

Indeed, it seems Apple is looking to aggressively expand in entertainment content. Apple has a big problem right now: the iPhone is struggling to produce growth. By purchasing Disney, they would be purchasing a company that does have strong growth, while putting their upcoming Apple TV streaming service on strong footing content-wise.

Apple's cash hoard is at $237.6 billion right now. Disney's market cap is at $150 billion. It would be a massive deal, but DOJ has it in writing that vertical mergers are viewed favorably, whereas horizontal mergers are viewed negatively.

As much as i hate the word Synergy, AAPL buying DIS makes sense because it fixes major holes in both companies portfolio of media products and services.

Disney - finally a dedicated distribution channel
Apple - Content that THEY own lock stock and barrel and a broadcast network of their very own.

Apple's model since the first iPod has been content drives hardware purchases it's why apple goes to such lengths to make the iTunes store a frictionless experience for it's devices.