While other media and entertainment companies are planning for more M&A under the Trump administration, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company will likely not go that route.
Speaking on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday, Iger said the company had already undergone a great consolidation, after acquiring the assets of 20th Century Fox in 2017. While noting that Disney will “always look opportunistically at opportunities,” Iger said the company does not have immediate plans for acquisitions under the new administration.
“We, in many respects, have already consolidated. We don’t really need more assets right now, either from a distribution or from a content perspective, to thrive in basically a disruptive media world,” Iger said.
Iger added that acquiring the assets of 20th Century Fox was done with an eye to grow the company’s streaming ambitions and has since brought in a “tremendous amount of content,” which propelled Disney’s 60 Emmy wins in September.
“In addition to that, people forget that came with control of Hulu, and ultimately ownership of Hulu, that distribution, packaged well, integrated well with Disney+, has enabled us to achieve the numbers we’ve achieved, which is approximately 174 million global subscribers, and an ability to really see into the future of streaming with through a very optimistic lens,” Iger said.
These comments come in contrast to other CEOs, who have signaled an interest in scooping up more assets under Trump, including Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav, who said the new administration may lead to greater consolidation, which will “provide a real positive and accelerated impact on this industry that’s needed.”
Other executives were more direct, with Perry Sook, chief executive of TV giant Nexstar, saying: “We believe that there is value to be created for our shareholders through further consolidation.”
Sinclair chief executive Chris Ripley had a similar sentiment. “It does feel like a cloud over the industry is lifting here, and we do think some much needed modernization of the regulations will be forthcoming,” he said. “We intend to participate in that, in the M&A in the industry, be it as a buyer as a seller or a merger partner.”
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