ORLANDO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co. CEO Michael Eisner will be on the defensive on Thursday as institutional investors and analysts grill him a day after Comcast Corp.'s surprise $50 billion bid to storm the house the Mouse built.
Eisner will face a barrage of questions about the offer and the future of the company, as senior management takes the stage on the second day of Disney's annual investors conference, held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
The 61-year-old Eisner, who faces accusations of mismanaging the company's fortunes by Roy Disney, the nephew of company founder Walt Disney and the man who recruited Eisner 20 years ago when the company was battling corporate raiders, faces new threats to his board seat.
On Wednesday, Institutional Shareholder Services recommended Disney shareholders withhold their vote to re-elect Eisner to the board, in a gesture to display its disapproval with Eisner and broader issues about Disney's corporate governance. Sander Morris Harris analyst David Miller, who was at the meeting, said he believed it was unlikely a white knight would emerge to rescue Disney from Comcast, but other options remained.
"There were other defensive and offensive measures moves Disney can make," he said, speculating that Disney could raise additional cash by shoring off its radio properties and offer a dividend.
Shares of Disney, which rose nearly 15 percent on Wednesday to their highest level since July 2001, gained another 2.2 percent early on Thursday to trade at $28.20.
Shares of Comcast fell 1 percent to $30.90, after falling 8 percent on Thursday.
But even as analysts and institutional investors endure the humid Orlando weather and day-long presentations from divisional chiefs from the theme parks and television networks units at Disney World, they may already be looking beyond the gates to wider questions about the media industry.
"This opens the whole field up," Paul Kim, an analyst at Tradition Asiel, said.
"Although the Comcast-Disney thing is big, the more interesting question is what comes after and how will this have a ripple effect on the industry," Kim said. "Every institutional investor here is thinking about what's the next M&A deal down the pike."
Credit: Yahoo News
Eisner will face a barrage of questions about the offer and the future of the company, as senior management takes the stage on the second day of Disney's annual investors conference, held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
The 61-year-old Eisner, who faces accusations of mismanaging the company's fortunes by Roy Disney, the nephew of company founder Walt Disney and the man who recruited Eisner 20 years ago when the company was battling corporate raiders, faces new threats to his board seat.
On Wednesday, Institutional Shareholder Services recommended Disney shareholders withhold their vote to re-elect Eisner to the board, in a gesture to display its disapproval with Eisner and broader issues about Disney's corporate governance. Sander Morris Harris analyst David Miller, who was at the meeting, said he believed it was unlikely a white knight would emerge to rescue Disney from Comcast, but other options remained.
"There were other defensive and offensive measures moves Disney can make," he said, speculating that Disney could raise additional cash by shoring off its radio properties and offer a dividend.
Shares of Disney, which rose nearly 15 percent on Wednesday to their highest level since July 2001, gained another 2.2 percent early on Thursday to trade at $28.20.
Shares of Comcast fell 1 percent to $30.90, after falling 8 percent on Thursday.
But even as analysts and institutional investors endure the humid Orlando weather and day-long presentations from divisional chiefs from the theme parks and television networks units at Disney World, they may already be looking beyond the gates to wider questions about the media industry.
"This opens the whole field up," Paul Kim, an analyst at Tradition Asiel, said.
"Although the Comcast-Disney thing is big, the more interesting question is what comes after and how will this have a ripple effect on the industry," Kim said. "Every institutional investor here is thinking about what's the next M&A deal down the pike."
Credit: Yahoo News
