ATTENTION: THE FOLLOWING REPORT IS A RUMOR. PLEASE TAKE THE FOLLOWING STORY WITH A GRAIN OF SALT.
The Walt Disney Company is currently in a state of “what the heck do we do now?”. The recently rehired CEO Bob Iger, is reportedly “overwhelmed” with how much of the company is in rough shape. Attendance at the theme parks is currently declining (the price hikes don’t help), multiple theatrical films are bombing at the box office, and many of their streaming series are being poorly received.
Iger is currently in the hot seat. Not only are the investors and other executives breathing down his neck, but he is also waging a proxy war with Nelson Peltz over the future of the company. If he doesn’t find a way to try and bring the company profits soon, he may see a repeat of 2020, when he was seemingly outed from the company before his contract had expired.
He seems to be doing whatever he can to try and spin things in a positive way, such as announcing that they will be investing $60 Billion into their theme parks (but not all at once). But it appears that he may be considering investing capital in another major acquisition, as he has been known to do.
Following a major article from Bloomberg discussing the company’s current state under Iger’s direction, multiple outlets have suggested that Iger either has or is currently floating around the idea of acquiring video game developer/publisher Electronic Arts. The motivation is the idea of having direct access to the gaming market.
While being a major company that is large in scope, E.A. is not well-liked by the gaming community due to its constant push for live service games, online-only experiences, and micro-transactions. Despite this, Disney has a history with E.A. The company previously owned exclusive rights to produce Star Wars games.
However, Iger is reportedly “noncommittal” about the plan, mostly due to how expensive such a purchase would be and how it may affect the company’s stock with such a large acquisition. Microsoft recently bought Activision (a relatively similar-sized company) for $69 Billion. Disney most likely doesn’t have that kind of capital.
Such a story, however, doesn’t add up as Disney had previously gotten out of the gaming market (under Iger’s orders) as they felt they could make more money licensing their IP rather than producing it themselves.
What do you think? Is Iger thinking of buying E.A.? Or is it just another rumor?
Source: comicbook.com
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