Disney/FOX Acquisition Thread

[Mad Dog]

These are all stupid amounts of money.

I truly worry about Universal Park 3 right now.

They can always sell the land to that savvy developer Stan Thomas. Heard he's a wizard with land purchases....Whoops, this isn't the Vivendi thread.

 

[amityboattours]

That's...worrysome for Galaxy's Edge.

I for one, think the Millennium Falcon teacup ride will be just as good an attraction as the one they originally proposed.

 

[JungleSkip]

I for one, think the Millennium Falcon teacup ride will be just as good an attraction as the one they originally proposed.

Flashback to when Jim Hill was SURE they were putting an X-Wing spinner in DHS

 

[Moose84]

I would say I'm concerned with this kind of spending and its effects on the theme park projects currently with Universal and Disney. Yet Something tells me though that companies of this size already have allocated funds for these projects. If there was true concern by either Disney or Comcast I don't see why they would be approving projects and announcing expansions if they had concerns with this. Comcast increase Beijing budget, purchased additional land, started permits on future plans at nearly all parks save Singapore and Disney announced major expansions to Paris, Tokyo and Disneyland Ca during this. I know may say well they didn't know a bidding war would break out. Well oh yeah they would, it was inevitable and everyone knew it, there was speculation before Comcast's intitial bid that it could go as high as 85 billion. Now do I think possible future projects and the third Universal Orlando park may be curios as to see what happens based on possibly ips they could use/bring without having to license them? Yes

 

[quinnmac000]

I would say I'm concerned with this kind of spending and its effects on the theme park projects currently with Universal and Disney. Yet Something tells me though that companies of this size already have allocated funds for these projects. If there was true concern by either Disney or Comcast I don't see why they would be approving projects and announcing expansions if they had concerns with this. Comcast increase Beijing budget, purchased additional land, started permits on future plans at nearly all parks save Singapore and Disney announced major expansions to Paris, Tokyo and Disneyland Ca during this. I know may say well they didn't know a bidding war would break out. Well oh yeah they would, it was inevitable and everyone knew it, there was speculation before Comcast's intitial bid that it could go as high as 85 billion. Now do I think possible future projects and the third Universal Orlando park may be curios as to see what happens based on possibly ips they could use/bring without having to license them? Yes

Comcast didn't increase..it was China who increased it. Same with TDS being paid in full by OLC. Any company owned project are the ones up for risk. All those being funding from the outside are a lot better off. Nintendo in Japan however is already taking care of due to the fact construction has already started but any project that hasn't broken ground on is probably up in the air.

 

[DK745]

Comcast didn't increase..it was China who increased it. Same with TDS being paid in full by OLC. Any company owned project are the ones up for risk. All those being funding from the outside are a lot better off. Nintendo in Japan however is already taking care of due to the fact construction has already started but any project that hasn't broken ground on is probably up in the air.

So would it be better for Disney to buy Fox so that the 3rd park and other attractions may live? Though I assume even those aren't a guarantee whether the Fox deal goes through or not.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

SWGE won’t be hit with budget cuts or probably any project currently under construction.

 

[Disneyhead]

SWGE won’t be hit with budget cuts or probably any project currently under construction.

Under Construction. No. Planned? Maybe. Supposedly there are quite a few walk around characters planned. I could see a lot of that getting the axe.

 

[Paulio]

Since news came out that the DOJ would approve the Disney/Fox deal in a couple of weeks, would Comcast still have the time to convince Fox shareholders to have an agreement with them? It seems like time is running for them and there may not be enough time for Fox to be convinced Comcast is somewhat more worthy than Disney.

 

[GAcoaster]

Probably because they lost their head of Microwave and TV Programming, Jack Donaghy.

View attachment 7016

But the parent company, Shinehart Wigs is still listed.

 

[Andysol]

I want this thing to be incredibly debt heavy, have Disney win it, be forced to sell capital property including their parks based on the debt load, and have Oriental land company take over WDW.

Is that too much to ask?

 

[Moose84]

Comcast didn't increase..it was China who increased it. Same with TDS being paid in full by OLC. Any company owned project are the ones up for risk. All those being funding from the outside are a lot better off. Nintendo in Japan however is already taking care of due to the fact construction has already started but any project that hasn't broken ground on is probably up in the air.

Both your examples are joint ventures between the company of the parks name and the local company/ies investing. Beijing will be 60 percent owned by local and 40 NBCUniversal. The Chinese investor just took a 4 billion dollar loan for their end now that means Uni is footing the other 2.5 billion. With that if Uni de not increase the end of the budget it would mean Chinese investors would own less than 30 percent of the resort at an initial investment of only 800 million. Yet that was not the initial agreement so I again will say they did increase investment in that park. Now your Tokyo/Disney as it is owned wholly by a Japanese corporation I'll agree. As for my other examples though Comcast did not spend 100's of millions on land in Orlando to sit on it, their not Vivendi. Disney doesn't make huge announcements to retract(mostly). The fox bidding war has been a known inevitability since December. The theme park industry is the biggest profit makers by percentage for both companies. Why would they halt known cash cows while they try and work out the balance sheet with the fox deal? Answer- they wouldn't. The theme park growth is a way of helping not hurting. Theme park investments show profits relatively quick if not at lightning pace and continue yielding massive profits for years and even decades.

I will say that I do have some reservations/concerns, yet feel they have a better plan and options for either outcome. Now both companies are not backing down so what does it matter what we think. All we can do is sit and wait for the winner and then the fallout.

 

[Mad Dog]

It seems Comcast & Disney view their theme parks in a different manner, business wise.
*If Comcast wins the bid I don't think it will have a negative effect on their theme park plans. Comcast seems to view their parks as a profit generator, and they seem to want to increase the size of that particular business segment in order to produce even more high percentages of profit.
* Disney theme parks produce very good profits on a consistent basis. But Disney seems to place more value in taking revenue out then in long term investments in the parks. These latest expansions have been mostly done as an answer, and fear of, Comcast taking market share away. If there was no Comcast in the equation, most of these expansions would have never taken place. With theme parks almost an afterthought in the Disney corporate structure, I could see a scenario where park development is slowed if they purchase Fox, and they (Disney) concentrate investment in other areas.

 

[Andysol]

It seems Comcast & Disney view their theme parks in a different manner, business wise.
*If Comcast wins the bid I don't think it will have a negative effect on their theme park plans. Comcast seems to view their parks as a profit generator, and they seem to want to increase the size of that particular business segment in order to produce even more high percentages of profit.
* Disney theme parks produce very good profits on a consistent basis. But Disney seems to place more value in taking revenue out then in long term investments in the parks. These latest expansions have been mostly done as an answer, and fear of, Comcast taking market share away. If there was no Comcast in the equation, most of these expansions would have never taken place. With theme parks almost an afterthought in the Disney corporate structure, I could see a scenario where park development is slowed if they purchase Fox, and they (Disney) concentrate investment in other areas.

I agree. Except I think your 2nd paragraph specifically is in reference to WDW. Paris, Hong Kong, etc are getting expansions- that has nothing to do with Comcast. Same with Disneyland (very little to do with Comcast). Additionally, new parks like Shanghai have nothing to do with Comcast either. But WDW is certainly an afterthought, which is idiotic, but it is what it is. Thank the Lord for UOR.

 

[quinnmac000]

I agree. Except I think your 2nd paragraph specifically is in reference to WDW. Paris, Hong Kong, etc are getting expansions- that has nothing to do with Comcast. Same with Disneyland (very little to do with Comcast). Additionally, new parks like Shanghai have nothing to do with Comcast either. But WDW is certainly an afterthought, which is idiotic, but it is what it is. Thank the Lord for UOR.

Shanghai Disneyland was in response to Universal China which has been a thought to get off the ground since 2002. Universal wanted Shanghai originally than Disney got it and Beijing hates to be topped by anything so they hoped fast and furious on getting Universal for Beijing and that's part of the reason the budget is going up way higher.

So its not due to Comcast in particular but Shanghai was a response to Universal moving into China.

 

[Paulio]

Forgive me if this has been posted already, but this link said that Comcast is trying to counter Disney's higher offer at $41 a share in cash & stock as opposed to Disney's $38 a share offer.

 

[Mad Dog]

I agree. Except I think your 2nd paragraph specifically is in reference to WDW. Paris, Hong Kong, etc are getting expansions- that has nothing to do with Comcast. Same with Disneyland (very little to do with Comcast). Additionally, new parks like Shanghai have nothing to do with Comcast either. But WDW is certainly an afterthought, which is idiotic, but it is what it is. Thank the Lord for UOR.

Just to clarify: Shanghai, Hong Kong and the Japan groups are different animals since they're either partnerships with Disney as a minority partner or wholly owned by another group (Japan). Paris just recently became Disney majority owned after they bought up the huge debt. . So basically, I was referring to the USA parks, including the Disney Resort. .

 

[zg44]

I assume Comcast exec's are crunching all the numbers on Disney's bid and what a comparable bid would look like.

Most likely, they're going to consider whether to add stock or not, and that's the main question. If Comcast ups stock to at least 30-40% of their bid, I think they can win this bidding war.

Otherwise, I think Disney wins.

 

[Nick]

For the sake of WDW & DLR expansion, I truly hope that Disney doesn’t get this. We all know Disney will cut funding to P&R if they have to take on massive debt.

 

[brianlo]

@Marni1971 is saying this has already negatively impacted WDW's upcoming projects.

Meh, 'everything' negatively impacts WDW's upcoming projects. It's just whatever excuse happens to be relevant at the time for them to cost cut. It's not like the place make money to afford it or anything...