Disney and Comcast today announced a deal under which Disney will "assume full operational control of Hulu, effective immediately." Within five years, Comcast has "agreed to sell its Hulu stake to Disney" for at least $5.8B. Comcast/NBCU will "retain its 33% ownership interest in Hulu." As early as January '24, Comcast can "require Disney to buy NBCU’s interest in Hulu." By the "same token, Disney can require NBCU to sell its interest to Disney for its fair market value at that time." Disney has "guaranteed a sale price for Comcast’s stake in Hulu that will represent a valuation for the streaming-video joint venture" of at least $27.5B (VARIETY.com, 5/14).
CNBC’s David Faber said perhaps the "most important single part of the deal" is that Disney "gets operational control, something it needed to have near-term in order for it to effectively to roll out its direct-to-consumer strategy, with Hulu being one part of it, ESPN another and most importantly, the yet to be rolled out Disney+ service." Disney Chair & CEO Bob Iger said it "gives us the ability to bundle, which is a big deal" (“Closing Bell,” CNBC, 5/14).
