I hope he is right!
Broker sees Comcast walking away
Disney board's advance plan may kill merger idea
By Russ Britt, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 4:51 PM ET Feb. 24, 2004
LOS ANGELES (CBS.MW) - A Wall Street broker said Tuesday he thinks Comcast Corp. will walk away from its proposal to buy out the Walt Disney Co. in the wake of revelations the company planned to decline the offer in advance.
Analyst Richard Greenfield of Fulcrum Global Partners said he expects Comcast (CMCSK: news, chart, profile) (CMCSA: news, chart, profile) will withdraw its bid for Disney (DIS: news, chart, profile) after company directors said Monday that they prepared a statement in advance for Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Eisner to read should a bid come through.
It had been speculated that Comcast would seek to buy Disney several weeks in advance of the bid, submitted by Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts to Eisner on Feb. 9. The proposed deal was made public two days later.
"We question how Disney's board of directors knew what they were responding to and why they would want responses 'set in stone' beforehand," Greenfield wrote in his remarks. "Logic and customary business practice would appear to dictate that a board would review and assess an open solicitation such as Mr. Roberts made."
Disney officials were not available for immediate comment. Comcast had no comment on the matter.
Concerns among investors that Comcast's interest in the $60 billion deal may be withering cast down Disney shares by 3 percent Tuesday. Disney was off 79 cents to $25.96. Comcast shares climbed 20 cents to $28.90.
The report came as Roy Disney and Stanley Gold continued their campaign to unseat Eisner and three board members. Gold and Disney sent a letter to the company's board seeking correspondence records between director Judith Estrin and Eisner's personal attorney, Irwin Russell.
Gold and Disney want to know if Estrin, who chairs the board's compensation committee, contacted Russell when determining what Eisner's bonus should be for both the 2002 and 2003 fiscal years.
Eisner's pay package has been a subject of consternation for Gold and Disney. They question whether Eisner should have received $5 million in stock options for 2002 as the company's shares fell that year.
In related news, the founder of Institutional Shareholder Services, Robert A.G. Monks, issued a statement urging shareholders to vote against Eisner and presiding director George Mitchell, a former U.S. senator.
Calling Disney's executives a "value destroying management," Monks said: "A substantial 'no' vote will make clear that Disney shareholders insist on management of their property in their interest and not as the benefit of an entrenched executive."
Monks left ISS in 1990, five years after founding it, and went on to found corporate governance specialists Lens Governance Advisors.
Russ Britt is the Los Angeles Bureau Chief for CBS.MarketWatch.com.
Broker sees Comcast walking away
Disney board's advance plan may kill merger idea
By Russ Britt, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 4:51 PM ET Feb. 24, 2004
LOS ANGELES (CBS.MW) - A Wall Street broker said Tuesday he thinks Comcast Corp. will walk away from its proposal to buy out the Walt Disney Co. in the wake of revelations the company planned to decline the offer in advance.
Analyst Richard Greenfield of Fulcrum Global Partners said he expects Comcast (CMCSK: news, chart, profile) (CMCSA: news, chart, profile) will withdraw its bid for Disney (DIS: news, chart, profile) after company directors said Monday that they prepared a statement in advance for Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Eisner to read should a bid come through.
It had been speculated that Comcast would seek to buy Disney several weeks in advance of the bid, submitted by Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts to Eisner on Feb. 9. The proposed deal was made public two days later.
"We question how Disney's board of directors knew what they were responding to and why they would want responses 'set in stone' beforehand," Greenfield wrote in his remarks. "Logic and customary business practice would appear to dictate that a board would review and assess an open solicitation such as Mr. Roberts made."
Disney officials were not available for immediate comment. Comcast had no comment on the matter.
Concerns among investors that Comcast's interest in the $60 billion deal may be withering cast down Disney shares by 3 percent Tuesday. Disney was off 79 cents to $25.96. Comcast shares climbed 20 cents to $28.90.
The report came as Roy Disney and Stanley Gold continued their campaign to unseat Eisner and three board members. Gold and Disney sent a letter to the company's board seeking correspondence records between director Judith Estrin and Eisner's personal attorney, Irwin Russell.
Gold and Disney want to know if Estrin, who chairs the board's compensation committee, contacted Russell when determining what Eisner's bonus should be for both the 2002 and 2003 fiscal years.
Eisner's pay package has been a subject of consternation for Gold and Disney. They question whether Eisner should have received $5 million in stock options for 2002 as the company's shares fell that year.
In related news, the founder of Institutional Shareholder Services, Robert A.G. Monks, issued a statement urging shareholders to vote against Eisner and presiding director George Mitchell, a former U.S. senator.
Calling Disney's executives a "value destroying management," Monks said: "A substantial 'no' vote will make clear that Disney shareholders insist on management of their property in their interest and not as the benefit of an entrenched executive."
Monks left ISS in 1990, five years after founding it, and went on to found corporate governance specialists Lens Governance Advisors.
Russ Britt is the Los Angeles Bureau Chief for CBS.MarketWatch.com.