Disney to Buy Out Hulu From Comcast for About $8.61 Billion

upstart writes:

The companies still have to settle on Hulu's worth:

The Walt Disney Company, which currently owns two-thirds of Hulu, is buying the remaining third from Comcast's NBCUniversal to "further [its] streaming objectives."

Disney's announcement Wednesday said it's expecting to pay "approximately" $8.61 billion for the remaining 33 percent stake in Hulu. That figure is based on a 2019 valuation of Hulu, pegging the streaming service's value at $27.5 billion.

But Disney noted that it may pay more than $8.61 billion, pending an appraisal. Disney said it's unsure how long the appraisal process will take but expects to complete the deal in 2024.

Disney has owned two-thirds of Hulu since it bought 21st Century Fox in 2019 for $71 billion. Comcast also made a bid for the business.

That same year, Comcast and Disney entered an agreement that enabled either party to force the sale of Comcast's piece of Hulu, starting in January 2024. But the companies announced on September 6 that they were moving up that timeline, so this week's news was expected.

When the companies announced moving up the sales process, Brian Roberts, Comcast CEO, noted that the appraisal procedure would "take a little time ... to play out."

Disney sounds prepared to pay nearly $9 billion for Hulu, if not more, but there's reasonable debate over how much the streaming service is worth. Hulu's minimum valuation was set in 2019 when the streaming landscape looked very different.

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