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Disney Board Turns Down Comcast Takeover Bid
scifience writes "Disney's board of directors today turned down Comcast's hostile takeover bid, reports MSNBC. The board expressed confidence in Eisner's leadership. One interesting quote released by the board is that they will, '...carefully consider any legitimate proposal...' Does this mean that they did not believe Comcast's offer to be legitimate?"
Further, I do not believe that they are terribly crazy about Eisner anymore even though they throw him a bone (for now) when they say "(The board) has confidence in the business, financial and creative direction of Disney under the leadership of Michael Eisner and his management team." They will gladly jettison Eisner when they have a "...legitimate proposal."
Happy Trails!
Erick
http://www.busyweather.com/
Neither the camp that supports Eisner nor the camp that wants to depose Eisner and take over the company themselves is going to vote in favor of Comcast taking over. Finally, an issue the two groups can unite on!
I'm not sure I'd have any desire to go to Comcast World.
My local paper (Philadelphia Daily News) ran a comparison recently between the two - in terms of revenue, Disney grossed 50% more than Comcast, which is less than I would have thought. Comcast has cable companies in 41 states, and the Disney op does not have substantially more personnel than Comcast. Doesn;t mean a hill of beans when you start crunching numbers, but it showed me that Comcast has more muscle than I thought they did, and that the second round might be the one if they can cough up some more cash.
Eat recycled food - it's good for the environment, and OK for you.
A) They like the amount Comcast offered, but don't think Comcast has the realistic ability to scrape together that kind of bread
B) They want to fan the flames a little to see who else wants to pony up for a ride on the You bid, they bid, we get back to you, then let's repeat.. train. Considering what's going on between Cingular and Vodaphone over ATT Wireless right now, I can't say I'd be surprised if that's their motivation.
-- I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous
That phrase is probably a hedge against lawsuits. If the board did not give the appearance of considering offers, then that would leave them open to lawsuits by shareholders for breach of duties.
M I C
K E Y
C A B L E
No mandatory goofy screensavers. Thank you god.
-- http://www.criticalassets.com
"So your offer's been rejected, congratulations, Comcast! What are you going to do now?" "I'm going to Hostiletakeoverland!"
The general public usually forgets that the best mergers are not just about money (and stock price) they are also about synergies. The potential merger with Comcast brought some synergies to the table (an outlet for Disney programming and cheaper advertising space). But ultimately, the key synergy is missing: Disney's focus on family entertainment.
To the external public, Disney is the ultimate family company. The ability for Disney to remain a reconginized name in family entertainment is crucial to its continued success. What does Comcast bring to that image? A merger could potentially dilute the image that Disney has worked decades to develop. (In accounting terms: Disney has a LOT of Goowill).
What's ironic about all of this is that Disney's external image and internal culture are so different. Many former employees have complained about it being a glue factory (i.e. hire people and use them up). Benefits, especially family benefits, are not as competitive as other companies in the industry. And most importantly--Disney no longer creates most of its content--almost all of it is outsourced to other organizations (i.e. Pixar) or just re-telling of old Disney stories (Cinderella, etc).
... doesn't mean he's going to spend a limitless amount of money for Disney, or that he even seriously wants Disney. For all we know, he told the board exactly how much they could bid for Disney before he gets pissed and votes his 7% against the whole proposal.
-- I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous
Do the senators that disney keeps buying to extend the copyright periods come with this deal or will Comcast have to purchase them seperatly?
How about Phil Collins and Elton John?
Microsoft invested $1 billion in Comcast back in 1997 and owns quite a bit of Comcast.
Where is Disney's next big movie going to come from? They've closed down their Florida studio.
They've lost pixar, and now they're getting in the news not for making animation but for corporate maneuvering.
Luckily for us at least we still have quality animation coming out of Japan, the rare gems coming from Warner Bros. (i.e. The Iron Giant) and the occasional Dreamworks film.
Quite personally I'd like to see Disney's slide be used as an opportuntiy for more adult themed animation to break into mainstream US culture, and with the success of spirited away, it's possible.
ce n'est pas un Sig.
I hope Eisner developed some hobbies outside of Disney, cause the target on his back is a mile wide, and just a few bucks short.
I believe his hobby is "swimming in pool of money filled by severance package."
Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
Edward Everett (1794 - 1865)
If anything, Comcast is going to pay yet more money for Disney, thus potentially edging them closer to bankruptcy :) Thats is - if things don't work out. They could, and this would be a successful venture (Indeed, Merril Lynch essentially called it a match made in heaven). If not, say hello to AOL Time Warner Episode II.
For what it's worth, I think this deal is a disaster in the making; One of the most important parts of an acquisition, takeover, or merger is how to incorporate the cultures of the two companies involved.
Disney has a history of independence and a strong, distinctive, and unique culture. Thanks to Michael Eisner, Disney is no longer a theme park company with a little studio; it's mostly a content company. And in terms of content, it's the <I>people</I> who count; that's what Comcast is buying (Besides the hard assets in terms of channels, magazines, parks, etc.) - And hell, even the parks are truly driven by employees who are obsessed with bringing the world's happiest place to each and every person who walks through its gates.
So, can Comcast, a company with no track record of any "creativity" in the traditional sense of the word...
(1) Buy Disney against the wishes of its management, and
(2) Shake things up like they've promised, and
(3) Tell people who've done a job for a very long time what to do different, while
(4) Keeping good relations with the bulk of their creative executives and rank-and-file employees?
I don't think so.
plan a whole day for your Comcast World visit. If you want to see Mike the Cable Technician, he will only show up at some time between 9 AM and 5 PM, and you don't want to miss him.
You'd have to reschedule, and only Jebus knows how long that would take.
The reason Comcast went "public" with the buyout information, is because Eisner privately turned down the bid.
The reason the board turned down the bid, is because they are getting bigger private offers (that we don't yet know about).
I, however, do know of one "major" media-up-and-coming-conglomorate that is making a bid. (Yes, they already have their own "mouse" [and protocol]).
MS-NBC-ATT-Viacom-Disney-Studios anyone?
Here's my prediction of the new MS-MPAA movie formula:
A love affair will acrue between a wholesome Microsoft user and a debaucherous Mac-using whore. He'll pretend that he cares about her and he'll drive her to the hotel room in his Microsoft-powered-Lotus-Espirit. He'll flaunt her around at big events, like [w]horse races, etc... and she'll realize that she's just a lowly MAC user! He'll undoubtedly comfort her by spending an incredible amount of money to convince her that Windows is better for sluts [that have some form of confidence].
Using cool special effects, she'll turn out to be an alien and the ATT-Disney Animation-Viacom-Studios fun will begin!
[I don't want to ruin the ending; but I'll bet you can guess who get fscked at the end of this flick]
Every day will seem like Independence Day!
Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
Back then it was common to leverage junk bonds to gain control over companies in order to break them up as you described - nowadays, they're typically misguided attempts at exploiting alledged business synergies, which never seem to actually materialize, AOL-Time Warner being the best recent example.
While it's true that Comcast's motives are certainly not altruistic (why would they be?), it's very unlikely they want to buy Disney in order to break it up and sell the pieces.
Blue horseshoe does not like The Walt Disney Company.
I've been a shareholder in DIS since the 1970's and have weathered other potential takeover storms.
The reason this one is different from the one 20 years ago is that I think the potential buyer has in mind the protection of the longterm value of the Disney brand and its associated assets. This brings benefit to shareholders beyond any premium in share price that might be offered. (If you don't know, many shareholders are somewhat concerned that the current Disney management team is focusing more on short-term profits than long-term value ... and if you need a lesson as to why that's not the best approach, I'm guessing you're not an ex-dot-com'er.)
In the case of the animation business which has arguably languished lately (closure of animation facility in Florida for example; also a focus on computer rather than hand animation), Comcast seems interested in bringing it to the forefront again. Whether that be through further investment on their part, or selling it off to a creative company like Pixar which could make the most of it, I can only see positive results compared to what's been going on recently here.
In the case of the theme parks, which have experienced reduced maintenance budgets and a serious slowdown in the number of new "big ticket" attractions developed in the past 5 years or so, again I can only see that a change would bring better stewardship of key company assets. Even if it meant selling off or leasing for operation the parks to a company like Six Flags, asking myself if "will the standard for the parks as it currently exists be lowered or raised?", my gut reaction is that it will at worst stay the same.
Anyway, usual caveats here -- not speaking on behalf of ANYONE except myself, and yes, I'm a stockholder in DIS who's in it for the long haul
I've been hearing, for years, from people in the disney organisation about Eisner's childish tactics and thirst for power. The board is comprised of his yes men, they will do what he says. Roy Disney as much as said this in his letter of resignation http://savedisney.com/letters/ The other items in the letters section of Roy Disney's website http://savedisney.com will reenforce this.
Many of the problems now being publically brought up by Roy Disney and Stanley Gold are ones that I and people familiar with the internal workings of the Disney creative machine have been voicing for years. Eisner's got to go, for the good of the company.
I don't want to see Disney swallowed up by a large corporation. There's still time to turn it around and save it, but I do not beleive this will happen. I, personally, beleive that Disney will eventually be bought. I didn't expect it to happen, or even be contemplated, this soon, but I believe it is inevitable unless Eisner is outted and the company drastically changes course.
we'll see Mickey mouse using windows soon...
Ugh.
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