See signage at the 2019 deadline contender Hulu Reception at the Paramount Theater on April 7, 2019 at the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood, California.
Rachel Murray | Getty Images
Disney Have agreed to pay Comcast The $438.7 million stake in Hulu streaming service summarizes a multi-year assessment process.
Disney 2023 Announce It intends to buy a 33% stake in Comcast in Hulu. At the time, Disney paid $8.6 billion, reflecting Hulu’s minimum value of $27.5 billion. The two companies agreed on the floor in 2019.
Disney’s announcement is no surprise Report By CNBC and others who are seeking to own Hulu completely. Disney gained two-thirds of ownership when it was Hulu get Fox’s entertainment assets.
Following the initial payment, Disney and Comcast conducted an evaluation process, which was initially expected to end in 2024.
Disney said its appraisers have reached guaranteed underground valuations, while Comcast NBCuniversal’s appraisers “reached valuations that exceed guaranteed floor value.” The SEC documents show that the process ends with a third appraiser.
The final deal is expected to end on or before July 24. Disney will record payments in its “net income attributable to non-controlling interests” and then reduce its “net income attributable to Disney” in its fiscal third-quarter fiscal third-quarter earnings statement. It is not expected to affect Disney’s previous guidance on adjusted revenue for fiscal 2025.
“We are glad this has finally been resolved. We have a productive partnership with NBCuniversal and we wish them good luck,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger in a statement.
Iger added that the completed acquisition paves the way for “deeper, more seamless integration” of Hulu and Disney+ content and the upcoming ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming app, called ESPN.
Disney has started Integration The two existing services are also bundled with ESPN+, which is currently available in sports streams.
Since its launch in 2020, Comcast’s NBCuniversal has been working on building its streaming service Peacock.
“Hulu is a great start on streaming, which generates nearly $10 billion in revenue for Comcast and creates a significant audience for NBCuniversal’s world-class content,” a Comcast spokesman said in a statement Monday. “We wish Disney and Hulu for the way our team manages the partnership.”
According to Disney’s recent earnings report, Hulu had more than 50 million subscribers as of March 29. Overall, Disney has 180.7 million streaming subscribers, most of which come from Disney+. Comcast reported in April that Peacock had 41 million subscribers.
Disclosure: Comcast owns CNBC parent company NBCuniversal.
