Business Insider is reporting that certain Wall Street analysts are predicting that Apple may try to purchase The Walt Disney Company. Among those floating the possibility is Samantha Greenberg, founder of hedge fund Margate Capital.
Apple has talked about the benefit Apple sees when it owns exclusive content, and owning Disney would reduce Apple’s exposure to product cycles, expanding AAPL’s valuation multiple…It would also be an accretive use of Apple’s cash and even more so if Apple’s $200Bn of offshore cash can be repatriated favorably.
Liberty Media founder John Malone also floated the possibility if Disney was to spin-off ESPN.
Apple has cash reserves over $200 billion. There have been theories that Apple wants to own more content in order to protect their distribution and device ecosystem. As we know, the best content company around is Disney. The Walt Disney Company is currently valued as over $175 billion.
Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger has a long history with Apple. He became friends with Apple’s Steve Jobs when Disney bought Pixar and Iger now serves on Apple’s board. Iger recently tweeted about their friendship on what was Steve Jobs’ birthday.
It is impossible to tell what a purchase of Disney would look like and what it would mean for the theme parks and other businesses. As of right now, it is just speculation that a deal could occur.
Recently Disney had been speculated as being interested in Twitter and Netflix, but no deals were worked out and the chatter has died down. The future of Disney “after-Iger” remains in doubt as the long-time CEO will be departing in just over two years.