Disney to pay Comcast additional $438.7 million to finalise Hulu acquisition before July 2025
Hulu deal: Walt Disney Co. must pay an additional $438.7 million to Comcast Corp. to complete its purchase of the Hulu streaming service, Disney said in a regulatory filing on Monday, as reported by Bloomberg.
The Bloomberg report said the transaction is expected to close before 24 July 2025 and will reduce Disney's net income in the fiscal third quarter.
In 2019, Disney agreed to acquire Comcast's one-third stake in the business at a price that valued the whole company at around $27.5 billion starting in 2024. However, when the deal was nearing its conclusion, Comcast said the business was worth much more.
The two sides began a dispute resolution process, which involved three investment bankers valuing the business. The process was completed on 9 June, the company told Bloomberg.
Bloomberg said that Disney already paid Comcast $8.6 billion for the stake. In addition, Comcast didn't have to make the $557 million in contributions to Hulu, which was required under their partnership agreement. Comcast's appraiser had valued the business at as much as $5 billion more.
'We are pleased this is finally resolved,' Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said in a statement.
'We have had a productive partnership with NBC Universal, and we wish them the best of luck. Completing the Hulu acquisition paves the way for a deeper and more seamless integration of Hulu's general entertainment content with Disney and, soon, with ESPN's direct-to-consumer product, providing an unrivalled value proposition for consumers.' Iger added.
According to Bloomberg, Comcast, in its own statement, said: 'We wish Disney well with Hulu and appreciate the cooperative way our teams managed the partnership.'
Hulu is one of the first streaming TV services. It evolved from a joint venture between broadcasters seeking a platform for next-day online content to a place where viewers can see original programming like the Chicago restaurant drama The Bear.
The business was previously co-owned by broadcasters — Disney, 21st Century Fox Inc., Comcast and AT&T.
The service was a pioneer in selling advertising around its shows, something that has now been copied by most of the major streaming services. Hulu has more than 54 million subscribers, said Bloomberg.
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