Could Disney face another hostile takeover attempt?

Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
SteamboatJoe said:
I have a hard time believing any company is going to be in the market for any kind of major buyout or takeover any time soon, especially of a fish as large as Disney.
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A lot of it is just wishful thinking. And then part of it is just clickbait opinion pieces with no data to back it up.

If Apple wasn't going to buy Disney in 2011 when Disney stock was in the $30s. Then why would they do it now when its hovering in the $90-110 range. Except for streaming content Disney has nothing that Apple wants. Not to mention the regulatory hurdle and hoops that anyone including Apple would have to jump over, around, and through just to get the deal done, which is not guaranteed to get approved. The FTC and SEC already has issues with tech giants like Apple and Google having too much power, so likely wouldn't approve it anyways.
 
SteamboatJoe

SteamboatJoe

Well-Known Member
mharrington said:
While the following article below doesn't necessarily mention Disney being taken over, it does mention that the Disney experience as has been known forever will be changed by the pandemic, to the point where it could very well be imperiled. Basically, it is about Bob Iger trying to keep the company alive: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/...bHzn1tF6bWUcgUimAPB7VcF6aZsLiirUiNbzLosOwCwtA.
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I think imperiled is an overstatement. You seem to keep trying to push the narrative that the company is going to cease to exist one way or another; coming across as almost eager at the prospect. The only reason the vibe in Burbank feels dire is there are a lot of employees who know they will be viewed as redundant or unnecessary when the rightsizing begins. I still believe Disney will emerge from this. There is already talk of restrictions easing up in the next month or two. No doubt the company will function differently for a while. The parks will definitely function differently for a while. You may see less films, smaller budget films, or fewer risks being taken. You may see some non-core assets sold off but I don't think the core business is going to be sold out or destroyed. Again, everyone else, especially in Hollywood, is in the same economic boat as Disney. Businesses in maintain and survive mode are not going to be in the acquisition mood.
 
Slpy3270

Slpy3270

Well-Known Member
SteamboatJoe said:
I think imperiled is an overstatement. You seem to keep trying to push the narrative that the company is going to cease to exist one way or another; coming across as almost eager at the prospect. The only reason the vibe in Burbank feels dire is there are a lot of employees who know they will be viewed as redundant or unnecessary when the rightsizing begins. I still believe Disney will emerge from this. There is already talk of restrictions easing up in the next month or two. No doubt the company will function differently for a while. The parks will definitely function differently for a while. You may see less films, smaller budget films, or fewer risks being taken. You may see some non-core assets sold off but I don't think the core business is going to be sold out or destroyed. Again, everyone else, especially in Hollywood, is in the same economic boat as Disney. Businesses in maintain and survive mode are not going to be in the acquisition mood.
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Plus, the article doesn't necessarily state that anything has changed. Executive Chairman is a lot different from being Chairman of the Board in that the Chairman still has considerable power over the company's direction. Disney's position now is no different from what it was when Iger stepped down.

As for non-core assets being sold off, the only plausible asset that could go away would be Disney's 50% stake in A&E Networks. With Nat Geo under their wing Disney likely sees no use in A&E. TrueX is also likely to go but that was planned long before this.
 
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seascape

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
If Disney needs money, they have some great Marvel characters they can license!!
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The longer the parks are closed the happier Disney is with the Universal contract. They get paid even if the parks are closed. Universal is also on the hook for the Simpson's and Harry Potter and others. Makes one wonder how much is Comcast paying out for all these contracts? it has to hurt and make Brian Roberts think.
 
Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
seascape said:
The longer the parks are closed the happier Disney is with the Universal contract. They get paid even if the parks are closed. Universal is also on the hook for the Simpson's and Harry Potter and others. Makes one wonder how much is Comcast paying out for all these contracts? it has to hurt and make Brian Roberts think.
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I see Spidey coming home long before the Universal contract gets ripped up. While its nice to imagine and play armchair CEO, I don't see Roberts giving those up without a fight.
 
Slpy3270

Slpy3270

Well-Known Member
Saudi Arabia has bought shares in Disney.
www.thewrap.com

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund Buys Stake in Disney, Facebook - TheWrap

The fund also bought stakes in Starbucks, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, Qualcomm and Uber, among others
www.thewrap.com www.thewrap.com

Of note: both Loeb and the Saudis' stake are less than a percent of Disney's overall ownership, so neither can really leave their mark on the company.

Still, lots of opportunists out there.
 
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MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Slpy3270 said:
Saudi Arabia has bought shares Disney.
www.thewrap.com

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund Buys Stake in Disney, Facebook - TheWrap

The fund also bought stakes in Starbucks, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, Qualcomm and Uber, among others
www.thewrap.com www.thewrap.com

Of note: both Loeb and the Saudis' stake are less than a percent of Disney's overall ownership, so neither can really leave their mark on the company.

Still, lots of opportunists out there.
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Yeah, it seems that people are looking for undervalued stocks that they assume will go back up to where they were before.

Most of Loeb's other holdings have dropped with the rest of the stock market. Don't think he's in any position to start throwing his weight around. He certainly does like to invest in entertainment companies.
 
Slpy3270

Slpy3270

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
Yeah, it seems that people are looking for undervalued stocks that they assume will go back up to where they were before.

Most of Loeb's other holdings have dropped with the rest of the stock market. Don't think he's in any position to start throwing his weight around. He certainly does like to invest in entertainment companies.
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Interestingly, Loeb is the same guy who for has been trying for years to pressure Sony into getting out of Hollywood, to no success.

If Loeb's motivation here is to get Disney to get out of the legacy TV business and focus solely on movies, streaming and theme parks (doubtful since DTCI is never going to surpass Media Networks in terms of profit and revenue), he might as well sell the shares right now because that's not happening.
 
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Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Slpy3270 said:
Interestingly, Loeb is the same guy who for years has been trying for years to pressure Sony into getting out of Hollywood, to no success.

If Loeb's motivation here is to get Disney to get out of the legacy TV business and focus solely on movies, streaming and theme parks (doubtful since DTCI is never going to surpass Media Networks in terms of profit and revenue), he might as well sell the shares right now because that's not happening.
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Nah, I see it more as Loeb playing both sides between Sony and Disney. Where he looks to get Disney to buy SPE.
 
Slpy3270

Slpy3270

Well-Known Member
Disney Irish said:
Nah, I see it more as Loeb playing both sides between Sony and Disney. Where he looks to get Disney to buy SPE.
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Yeah that's also not happening. Too expensive and not to mention Disney will want to keep Tom Rothman as far away from the studio as possible (he's the reason Deadpool originally couldn't speak in the X-Men series, not to mention the ty Fantastic Four movies).
 
Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Slpy3270 said:
Yeah that's also not happening. Too expensive and not to mention Disney will want to keep Tom Rothman as far away from the studio as possible (he's the reason Deadpool originally couldn't speak in the X-Men series, not to mention the ****ty Fantastic Four movies).
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Well one can purchase a company without bringing on the executive team, or only having them around for a short period of time like with Fox.
 
Slpy3270

Slpy3270

Well-Known Member
Disney Irish said:
Well one can purchase a company without bringing on the executive team, or only having them around for a short period of time like with Fox.
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That depends on how ironclad their contracts are. I can imagine Rothman being very difficult to release without a big payout.
 
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AnotherDayAnotherDollar

Well-Known Member
Disney Irish said:
Nah, I see it more as Loeb playing both sides between Sony and Disney. Where he looks to get Disney to buy SPE.
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Dan Loeb reminds me of Mac from Sunny.

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Slpy3270 said:
Yeah that's also not happening. Too expensive and not to mention Disney will want to keep Tom Rothman as far away from the studio as possible (he's the reason Deadpool originally couldn't speak in the X-Men series, not to mention the ****ty Fantastic Four movies).
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The best Marvel fans can hope for is the rumor that I saw the other day that a conglomerate of Apple, Netflix, CBSViacom and Disney are trying to buy SPE where the assets would be split according to each buyer's best interest and Disney would pay a lot less and be under a lot less scrutiny than if they were to try to get it by themselves. Still wishful thinking though, even if my opinion is that Sony should get rid of SPE and double down on Playstation.
 
Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
AnotherDayAnotherDollar said:
The best Marvel fans can hope for is the rumor that I saw the other day that a conglomerate of Apple, Netflix, CBSViacom and Disney are trying to buy SPE where the assets would be split according to each buyer's best interest and Disney would pay a lot less and be under a lot less scrutiny than if they were to try to get it by themselves. Still wishful thinking though, even if my opinion is that Sony should get rid of SPE and double down on Playstation.
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Actually Disney doesn't have to even be part of the deal. If anyone buys SPE all Marvel rights (and content) revert back over to Disney/Marvel for free. So except for the old Columbia Pictures catalog; Sony has nothing that Disney really wants that it couldn't get just by waiting for someone else to buy it.
 

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