Verizon to Buy Disney?

[bclane]

It all depends on the parent. USO under Vivendi was an unmitigated disaster. GE and Comcast greatly improved things. Many would say that they are leading things in O town these days.

Yah you are right about that. Vivendi was horrible for them. I love the new attitude though and I don't think we'd have SWE on it's way if Universal hadn't of been on such a high quality building spree for the last few years. It's a good time to be a geek!

 

[monothingie]

Yah you are right about that. Vivendi was horrible for them. I love the new attitude though and I don't think we'd have SWE on it's way if Universal hadn't of been on such a high quality building spree for the last few years. It's a good time to be a geek!

Another thing is that at least on the parks and resorts part of TWDC the management and leadership culture is wrong. The cause of this is directly attributable to Iger and Company. Personally I think shaking things up at the top may bring about some improvements.

Also the only reason why you got SWL, TSL, Pandora, NFL was because TWDC had to play catch-up. If USO didn't do anything in the early 2010's you can bet Disney wouldn't be doing anything now.

 

[bclane]

Another thing is that at least on the parks and resorts part of TWDC the management and leadership culture is wrong. The cause of this is directly attributable to Iger and Company. Personally I think shaking things up at the top may bring about some improvements.

Also the only reason why you got SWL, TSL, Pandora, NFL was because TWDC had to play catch-up. If USO didn't do anything in the early 2010's you can bet Disney wouldn't be doing anything now.

Competition from Uni has been great for us I completely agree. But I am probably one of the minority around here that (overall) likes what Iger has done during his tenure. I don't think he's perfect obviously as there has been some missteps, but overall I'm happy and like where we're headed (for the most part). We could certainly do worse in my opinion. To me, a buyout is a complete unknown and I'd rather deal with current management's bent towards bringing too much IP into the parks but get to enjoy things like SWE and Pandora than to wonder what Verizon or some other suiter might have in store for us. Just my opinion though. I don't see myself or anyone with a differing opinion as being right or wrong. Just different.

 

[Seabasealpha1]

This is even more ridiculous than the Apple buy-out hot mess rumor...

 

[ppete1975]

i could see them buying espn and abc. They wouldn't want to be in the theme park business, And losing espn would be great for Disney. Verizon owning espn would make sense.

 

[RustySpork]

i could see them buying espn and abc. They wouldn't want to be in the theme park business, And losing espn would be great for Disney. Verizon owning espn would make sense.

It really would be great for Disney to shed ESPN, but I don't know that we'll see it shake off as long as Bob Iger is at the helm.

 

[larryz]

Nice. I'm planning on being the next sponsor for Spaceship Earth.

You won't have to. When Siemens leaves, they'll remove the logos and label it "Spaceship Earth, sponsored by (insert name here)"...
You'll get all that publicity for free!

 

[bclane]

It really would be great for Disney to shed ESPN, but I don't know that we'll see it shake off as long as Bob Iger is at the helm.

I agree with dumping ESPN but mostly because they are always beating up on my beloved Miami Dolphins (don't judge me lol). ESPN can kiss my grits!

 

[Ethan999]

There's no way they would be able to find the money to purchase that large of a company. Let alone be able to manage all of the inner companies such as abc or Marvel

 

[ford91exploder]

Verizon wants to be a content powerhouse. This deal just might happen as a hostile takeover attempt they just bought googles major competitor in search.

Check your seatbelts and prepare for a wild ride.

One thing VZ would not be interested in is the parks

 

[Mouse Trap]

Verizon wants to be a content powerhouse. This deal just might happen as a hostile takeover attempt they just bought googles major competitor in search.

Check your seatbelts and prepare for a wild ride.

One thing VZ would not be interested in is the parks

They don't have the cash or leverage for a hostile takeover. Verizon is swimming in debt after the 130B buyout of VZ Wireless. 4.5 billion for Yahoo, yes. 150B+ for Disney? No.

If anything we'd be looking at a merger here.

 

[FutureCEO]

Every company will be a monopoly soon.

 

[ford91exploder]

They don't have the cash or leverage for a hostile takeover. Verizon is swimming in debt after the 130B buyout of VZ Wireless. 4.5 billion for Yahoo, yes. 150B+ for Disney? No.

If anything we'd be looking at a merger here.

Don't underestimate someone like Goldman-Sachs making the impossible possible plus Disney throwing away cash in the form of buybacks which could be used to finance the deal.

Also remember if someone like GS makes this deal possible they get paid up front leaving investors to take it on the chin.

No matter what VZ will be in the drivers seat on this deal

IF IT HAPPENS

 

[Uncle Lupe]

The NY Post article contained exactly one sentence about this rumor. The headline might as well be "Kate Upton to start returning @lentesta's phone calls?"

If she does tell her I am a big fan.

 

[Mouse Trap]

Don't underestimate someone like Goldman-Sachs making the impossible possible plus Disney throwing away cash in the form of buybacks which could be used to finance the deal.

Also remember if someone like GS makes this deal possible they get paid up front leaving investors to take it on the chin.

No matter what VZ will be in the drivers seat on this deal

IF IT HAPPENS

Even for GS I find this very unlikely. It would cripple Verizon with debt. I think it would put their debt close to 350B and I just don't see that happening especially when it includes acquiring a huge liability in ESPN. They've just acquired a dead company in Yahoo, so now they want to add to those challenges with ESPN? It's a poor business move. I get that the move would be for the content, but it sounds like Verizon would be way over their heads for this one. Disney simply doesn't generate enough profit to make all this debt worth it.

Verizon would be far from the driver's seat in this deal. They'd be on their knees for the lenders and it's not like Disney's board is just going to give away the company. They're going to want a nice premium on top of the current share price. It's too massive of a deal for Verizon to take right now. We're looking at a minimum 200B+ deal. For an Apple or a Google this makes sense... but for Verizon?? The money isn't there.

 

[21stamps]

My thoughts- L. O. L.

 

[Dead2009]

Walt would be rolling in his grave if Disney was sold off....his head however...well...the facial expressions would probably be too difficult to reproduce.

 

[Darth Sidious]

Don't underestimate someone like Goldman-Sachs making the impossible possible plus Disney throwing away cash in the form of buybacks which could be used to finance the deal.

Also remember if someone like GS makes this deal possible they get paid up front leaving investors to take it on the chin.

No matter what VZ will be in the drivers seat on this deal

IF IT HAPPENS

Verizon is too leveraged to make a purchase of this size. Banks can't make this happen because that's not how it works. Banks would have to underwrite a ~$100bn commitment letter with a capital market takeout. Not to mention this would require every bank on the street to be involved.

Banks are not getting these fees upfront either. There is likely some component of upfront pricing but it is small comparative to the total fees associated with the advisory fee or bridge loan underwriting fees. Banks will get some upfront fee because having a signed commitment letter will eat up capital at the bank for an extended period.

Lastly, Disney's share repurchases are actually defensive against an acquisition, at least a hostile one. If Verizon acquired a company with more liquid assets they could use those assets to pay down debts post merger.

 

[Phonedave]

There's no way they would be able to find the money to purchase that large of a company. Let alone be able to manage all of the inner companies such as abc or Marvel

I think you would be suprised at the number of "inner companies" that Verizon manages today. Companies you never heard of, operating in markets you never thought about. Not everything has the "big red" logo on it (and the big red logo is sort of being phased out anyway)

Money on the other hand would be an issue, Verizon is not adverse to risk taking, but this would require leveraging the company to an extremely large extent.

-dave

 

[Bender123]

The stuff that pops up in my Google news feed....

Reported on the Site That Shall Not Be Named from a story in the New York Post (that bastion of journalism ), Verizon is considering a purchase of Disney, to make it more competitive with AT&T after it purchased Time/Warner. Apparently, Verizon has expressed interest in Comcast (just what I need - my wireless service owning my cable company), CBS and Disney.

According to the NY Post article, it wouldn't be a full takeover since Verizon's market capital is $182B and Disney's is $106B. Plus, Verizon may not want all of Disney.

Yeah, right.....

Disney also has a cap of around $170B...$106 is their share price. In order for this to happen, Verizon would need to leverage almost their entire company against it and pay a massive per share premium, which would never get approved by a board. It would not be out of thought that Verizon is looking at getting into media content, which would mean maybe Disney trying to dump ESPN or some of the non-essential brands.

Disney would likely never sell off parks, ABC, Marvel or the other movie arms. They are just too profitable.

Comparing Comcast to Universal is fairly close situation, as Universal was owned by GE, but it only had a Cap of around $6B. Nowhere near the same money levels that would be needed.