Disney, Comcast call in Hulu ref
May 7, 2024
Disney and Comcast are looking for a financial adviser they are both happy with to resolve a dispute over how to value the 33 per cent stake in streaming platform Hulu that the former will acquire from the latter, reports Reuters.
The companies struck a deal for Hulu in 2023 but Comcast and Disney are too far apart in their valuation assessments. JPMorgan has valued Hulu for Disney (the buyer) at close to $27.5 billion (€25.5bn), which is the floor valuation for Hulu that the companies had set as part of their 2019 “put-call” agreement. Morgan Stanley valued Hulu for Comcast (the seller) at more than $40 billion, sources told Reuters.
Disney and Comcast are now in talks to hire an investment bank that will independently value Hulu. In regulatory filings last year, Disney and Comcast had outlined that if the valuation reached by their two banks were within 10 per cent of each other, a deal will be consummated at a valuation that is the average of the two appraisals.