Disney and Comcast Disagreeing On Process To Valuate Hulu And Could Go To Court

Disney and Comcast still have not come up with a final valuation for Hulu to fully settle the sale. The floor value for Hulu was set at  $27.5 back in 2019 when Disney took control of Fox’s stake in Hulu. Disney owned 2/3, and Hulu owned 1/3, and an agreement was reached that by early 2024, Disney would buy out Hulu. The issue is the valuation of Hulu. Disney needs to pay Comcast 1/3 of that amount.

So far, Disney has paid Comast $8.61B, which was the lowest possible amount they could pay. From there, each company needed to get a valuation assessment done, and if they were within 10% of each other, that would be the final price.

Previously, it was reported that each party had chosen an appraiser, with Disney choosing JPMorgan Chase and Comcast using Morgan Stanley.

The appraisals have come back with a huge difference. Disney’s valuation is set at the floor price, meaning they would not have to pay anymore. Comcast’s valuation came in at $40 billion. This means Disney still owes them $3-$4 billion.

A third valuation was reported to be needed. RBC Capital is the company they have agreed on. However, Disney and Comcast seem to disagree on how the process should proceed, and it could end up in court, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Hopefully, RBC Capital can devise a solution that both parties agree on before it has to head to court. I’m not surprised this is the outcome or that Disney’s valuation was the floor amount, so they wouldn’t have to pay more money.

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