Comcast Gone For Good!

[Bill]

NEW YORK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Cable provider Comcast Corp. is not interested in buying Walt Disney Co. at the entertainment conglomerates's current stock price, or running a consent solicitation to replace all or part of the board, a source close to the company said on Tuesday.

Disney rejected Comcast's unsolicited $48.1 billion, all-stock offer on Sunday, noting the bid represented a 17 percent discount to Disney's current stock price. Based on current stock prices, Comcast's bid values Disney at about $23.09 per share, while Disney traded up 7 cents to $26.99 in late-morning.

Comcast responded by saying the bid was a full and generous offer.

"We are not interested in Disney at the current price levels," the source told Reuters on Monday. "Obviously if we're not interested in Disney at these prices, we're not going to run a consent solicitation."

Source:

Reuters
Comcast doesn't want Disney at current price-source
Tuesday February 17, 11:36 am ET


:sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy:

 

[JBSLJames]

Interesting. Could be used to through off other investors as their intent. Only time will tell.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Wow, that's quite a turn of events. It sounded to me like Comcast would wait a while and make another offer.

If this turns out to be true, then.... whew! If not....

 

[netenyahoo]

Hopefully this doesn't mean others will now start bidding. Maybe Disney will bid on Comcast now.

 

[tigsmom]

Looks like they dodged the bullet, for now. Time to sit back and wait to see who make the next offer.

 

[Bill]

Oh, I'm not sure who moved it, but thank you! I forgot where I was posting...:hammer:

 

[Shaman]

Very interesting indeed...I didn't expect them to give up so easily....hmmm...

 

[BwanaBob]

*exhales*

 

[Bill]

It almost gives you a false sense of security, eh?

 

[Pat X]

This is VERY optimistic/good news.....Hopefully they'll take a hike and focus on someone else. Not sure who else will make a bid. Just this morning Viacom said they weren't interested in Disney.

 

[cherrynegra]

Wow! If this is true, then that was easy. I wonder why they even bothered in the first place since they knew their intial offer would be considered too low. Almost sounds too easy. Let's hope it's true and then refocus on new leadership.

 

[Shaman]

Originally posted by cherrynegra
Wow! If this is true, then that was easy. I wonder why they even bothered in the first place since they knew their intial offer would be considered too low. Almost sounds too easy.

Kinda makes you look at the whole situation again...maybe Roy was behind this after all...and if he was, well it seems that it got the board a little nervous about Eisner...who knows...maybe Comcast is just waiting for another opportunity...

 

[Pat X]

Comcast NOT interested in Raising Bid

Here's another article confirming Comcast will not increase its bid:


http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/040217/media_disney_comcast_2.html

 

[Lovecraft]

Originally posted by objr
Kinda makes you look at the whole situation again...maybe Roy was behind this after all...and if he was, well it seems that it got the board a little nervous about Eisner...who knows...maybe Comcast is just waiting for another opportunity...

That's what I was thinking.

 

[1disneydood]

Well comcast can just let the door hit them where the Good Lord split them as far as I care.

 

[texanspivey]

This is kinda wierd, like the calm before the storm. :lookaroun

 

[Pat X]

I know, I'm paranoid now! Things are happening so fast, (Disney purchasing the Muppets today) I keep worrying I'll wake up tomorrow and find out Comcast has reached a deal with Disney....

Still, I'm more optimistic that we won't have to worry about Comcast.

I'm curious though, will Comcast release a statement though that they have "officially" given up their efforts to takeover Disney, or do you think today's articles serve this purpose?

 

[Blizz]

BUT..............

Disney did say they would be happy to consider any and all other serious bids. Even if Comcast said thats their deal, take it or leave it, Disney could still face other company's deal.

Also, Viacom did say they were not interested in Disney the other day.

Brian Roberts of Comcast is also known to be a sneaky guy. This could all be a front and he will take them with their pants down. All I would say is Disney and Comcast are not totally through yet, I am sure Steven Burke and Brian Roberts still have something... they are not the type to give up easy...

On a side note, Vivendi Universal's stock got a boost today when speculation showed that european based Vodafone might be eyeing up Vivendi Universal now that Vodafone's AT&T Wireless deal has been abandoned.

 

[CTXRover]

Originally posted by Blizz
BUT..............

Disney did say they would be happy to consider any and all other serious bids.

This could be taken two ways...the pessimistic view would say this means the board is eager to sell...given the right deal. The more optimisitic (and my) view is that it was simple board talk so shareholders don't feel the Disney board is just declining the proposal without keeping their best interest in mind. In other words, so it doesn't seem Disney just shrugged off ComCast's bid with no real serious intention of ever analyzing bid.

I have heard that one reason ComCast isn't sprucing up their deal so fast is, well, they can't afford to. They were apparently never in the best situation to actually go through with the merger above much more than their original offer, which became even less valuable as their stock fell and Disney stock rose. I have also read that a potential reason for ComCast's sudden offer, in addition to the vulnerability of Disney right now, is that they are attempting to cover up their own problems and struggles that will inevitably hurt their bottom line in the near future. So basically, they just want to wait until, what they feel, will be the inevitable fall in Disney stock again. Suprisingly, Disney stock saw no such decrease today and the acquistion of the Muppets (announced after trading hours) will probably help keep Disney stock near its high for a little while. That will keep ComCast at bay for a little. This is Disney's time to get serious and prevent a future takeover bid...which could really be bolstered by announcing some type of succession plan for Eisner in the very near future (some say they may present some type of plan as soon as March's shareholder meeting).

 

[Pat X]

I also keep reading how Comcast is simply waiting for Disney's stock price to fall again...but that doesn't make sense to me. 'Cause if they do make the offer again, won't it just cause Disney's stock to rise again? They may try to add cash, but arent't they in too much debt....maybe I should just let this go and be happy with the outcome, but it seems to easy.

I agree with CTX that the Board's language was just a show. All of Disney's actions however have shown they were and are going to fight any takeover.