Disney to Own IOA and US???

[Justin]

Hey Everyone, IM just going to go ahead and upgrade on what i have heard all of today..... Please do not get mad at me, or yell at me for his, cause this is only what i heard. Also sorry if i started something that someone else has already, im too lazy to check the threads right now. :lol:

Today when we were in the car going to school, I was listening to the radio nd it came up and said that Universal is selling their theme parks cause they no longer want them.....
I also said that Disney was interested in buying the company. But when i came home and looked it up this is what it said.

Universal new ownership imminent?
It looks like it will only be a matter of time now before Universal and Vivendi part ways. The theme parks division is officially being shopped and one of the interested parties is reported to be DreamWorks which is made up of Steven Spielberg, Jeffery Katzenberg and David Geffen. You have to wonder if the impending Kong replacement could be jeopardized with all of this movement happening now. (posted: 8/20/2002)

I have heard so far that, Disney and Dream Works is competing in buying the parks, And also trying to look up more info on this, I mean hey, It might not be Disney, but for Disney to run one of the other most powerful parks by Universal, That would be pretty cool for them, I would also only have to buy one park pass instead of 2 to Universal and Disney, cause it would only be all Disney .

 

[RobFL]

Actually, Vivendi announced officially they had no intentions of selling the theme park division.

-Rob

 

[Justin]

When did they do that? Cause all today i have been hearing that they are, And that they did not have enough space to run it, Like it was eating away their money, and they rn't making enough buisness to run it or something, Even though there making higher capacity on their rides, and More population in their parks. I have heard everywhere for sure that they are......... Hard to believe but....

 

[MKingdom25]

According to the Vivendi Universal, "Following the many rumors about possible asset disposals, Vivendi Universal would like to again emphasize that no statement or comments will be made on disposals before their completion."

 

[Justin]

Originally posted by MKingdom25
According to the Vivendi Universal, "Following the many rumors about possible asset disposals, Vivendi Universal would like to again emphasize that no statement or comments will be made on disposals before their completion."

AHHH!! Whats this saying? That there going to keep their mouth shut for a while? Or that there just not going to sell the parks? and to the company?.....

 

[EvilMOuse]

Sounds like both to me, if they were to sell the parks there would be a LOT of negotiating, but i doubt there even at that stage...sounds like they are hedging there bets for now.

 

[Justin]

Yeah, and i bet u there will be ALOT of competetion for that. If most likely though, i heard a company that Steven Spielberg is working on getting it, But i was kindof hoping for Dinsey. It started off with them and they were "Interested" in buying it... Seems to me like this might go down hill. A Dreamwork owned park with Universal Rides in it? Same with Disney. Either way its not going to fit the jigsaw puzzle.

 

[WDWFanatic]

Due to the stock prices now, Disney really shouldnt buy anything else. I wish they never bought ABC. I read most of the info about this sale in the orlando sentinel. They have updates about the happenings on their website. Disney was interested but only at a rock bottom price. They would definately corner the market down there. I have also seen that universal is building a park now in Shanghai, China. Disney is trying to keep up and build a park in mainland china now even tho hong kong isnt happy about it. So if universal is broke why are they building more?

 

[Justin]

Yeah, i dont know whats going on, They must be selling IOA to get more prics for the new theme parks, Or Maybe they dont want to run as many theme parks and just have one, Unlike Disney. I do and dont think it would be good for Disney to buy out IOA and US, however i dont think that there going to get them, They still might be interested in the finances for it. They wouldn't really lose that much if they bought them, They would actually gain.. By buying the theme parks, they could get just as much from parkfood, and park entry passes. It sounds like a fair trade to me..... But those stock markets and how they run it is really interesting.

 

[pheneix]

>>>So if universal is broke why are they building more?<<<

By having partners in the venture. They went in with several companies when they were building Universal Japan, and even here in Florida they were partners with Rank Group (and now Blackstone) when building IOA and the rest of Universal Orlando.

 

[dizpins14]

well all I know is if Disney buys it they would be spreading themselves too thin and it could mean take over.....however if Dreamworks buys the parks then Disney could be in trouble.....think Shrek land and other such hits. Dreamworks has made some of the most popular movies recently. Gladiator and other such movies. Disney has classics but it doesn't have a flim library that can entertain such a diverse age group as Dreamworks does. Plus put on top of that all the Universal films........

 

[FutureCEO]

If you go on laughingplace.com they have 2 interesting links for this

 

[wdwmaniac]

Disney is problaly the only on interested in the Ven. Unv. Parks. Dreamworks has no interest and it doesn't have the cash to make it all work. Uni. doesn't one of the movie companies it distributes for owning them. Disney Stock is down but this could be away to make Mr. E look good again. Takeing over the Universal Entertainment company would make Disney stock more noticable. Basically taking the USA Theme Park industry over, more movies, more channel, and more acess to some of Dreamworks moives. Uni. is a big name like Disney which would make it a good buy investors would be more app. to buy Disney stock and less app. to remove Mr. E if Disney is forming this new HUGE ENTERTAINMENT MAMMOTH it would just add to more problems if they removed him during a billion dollar take over, unlike buying hte Muppets which won't do anything for Disney Stock or Mr. E.

 

[wishiwere@wdw]

http://www.wtsp.com/news/2002_08/20_universal_park.htm

While it does mention exploratory, I still would think the sell is almost imminent. Vivendi can't afford to hold this division much longer. Unfortunately, it could be really bad for WDW if any of these changes take place. Many of those expressing interest have it out for Disney and would love to succeed in stomping the mouse. In fact, Universal was beginning to succeed until this minor hurdle.

 

[Justin]

I agree, But buying IOA and Universal would be good for Disney's stocks, They would actually be getting the better deal out of it, due to all the customers and food, They would make a reasonable enough profit.

 

[prberk]

Universal is actually likely to be sold off to a new investment group with its largest stockholder (cable industry magnate John Malone), or with its current entertainment chief, Barry Diller (former head of USA Networks, I think, and a real Hollywood insider), leading the group. Either way, I believe Barry Diller will mostly likely run the new company, even if Malone finances it.

Read http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...g20.story?coll=orl-business-headlines-tourism

This article simply restates what others have been saying at the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other places.

Incidentally, it can be said that I believe that it would stretch Disney too thin to buy Universal's entertainment assets, and it certainly would not be good for competition. As for Dreamworks buying it, at least the competition would bring benefits to the consumer.

To keep up with it, read the business section of the Orlando Sentinel (www.orlandosentinel.com) daily. They have a vested interest in keeping up with it, and they are owned by the same people as the Los Angeles Times... (who also have reason to write about Hollywood deals).