What happens to DVC if Disney is sold?

[DonMacGregor]

Just because a company says they want to buy Disney or are considering it doesn’t make it even remotely likely. I would say you have a better chance of having a home you live in on Mars before Disney sells to anyone in any of our lifetimes. Also given how interwoven the IP with the studios and parks and cruise line are it would be either impossible to sell part of the company or unprofitable which makes it even less likely.

This right here. Breaking up a company like, say, Keurig Dr. Pepper is one thing. It has a number of assets, all in the beverage and beverage related markets, but none of its disparate assets is even remotely intertwined with another. Disney has far too much inter-divisional synergy and the divisions are dependent on each other for content, marketing, IP ownership, support, etc. If you start trying to break up Disney, the value of the parts becomes lesser than the whole, unlike most asset stripping schemes.

 

[muppets3d]

The Oriental Land Company does a fine job of operating a resort (and soon a cruise line) without owning any IP. So if Disney were to be broken up, these things could be figured out. It would simply be a matter of the resorts and/or parks company licensing the studio IP, for example.

 

[Steelers0854]

The Oriental Land Company does a fine job of operating a resort (and soon a cruise line) without owning any IP. So if Disney were to be broken up, these things could be figured out. It would simply be a matter of the resorts and/or parks company licensing the studio IP, for example.

You just made my point for me. It’s very easy to run a successful hotel and cruise line with no IP. Why would you want to license literally every part of everything you do? Let’s look at a Disney cruiseline, say you wanted to spin that off, (or you could say you sold the studio component and left the Parks and Cruiseline together). Every bar, the entire kids club, every restaurant except for maybe 1923, all the shows on board, all the movies onboard, all of the character meet and greets, all of that would need to be licensed. So by the time you pay for all the licenses what have you gained by buying the cruise part of the business? About the only thing you would own outright is the bridge, engineering space and crew cabins.

 

[muppets3d]

You just made my point for me. It’s very easy to run a successful hotel and cruise line with no IP. Why would you want to license literally every part of everything you do? Let’s look at a Disney cruiseline, say you wanted to spin that off, (or you could say you sold the studio component and left the Parks and Cruiseline together). Every bar, the entire kids club, every restaurant except for maybe 1923, all the shows on board, all the movies onboard, all of the character meet and greets, all of that would need to be licensed. So by the time you pay for all the licenses what have you gained by buying the cruise part of the business? About the only thing you would own outright is the bridge, engineering space and crew cabins.

The Oriental Land Company has made a good business doing it, so there is a model there if the company is ever split up. I'm not sure the parts are worth more than the sum, however.

 

[PolyRob]

I know the Hulu app is merging with Disney+ in 2026, but the broadcast networks, ESPN, and National Geographic seem like the easiest things to spin off. There were rumors based on some statements Iger made about ABC not that long ago and he walked it back. I wouldn't be surprised by anything at this point. Who knows if Disney pulls a Uni and has an outside company run the resorts? They seem to have better housekeeping procedures that way. I just can't see the parks closing up entirely. They make too much money.

 

[Brian Noble]

ESPN

Sports are just about the only thing that requires viewers be exposed to ads---because most people want to watch sporting events in real time.

 

[Brianstl]

You just made my point for me. It’s very easy to run a successful hotel and cruise line with no IP. Why would you want to license literally every part of everything you do? Let’s look at a Disney cruiseline, say you wanted to spin that off, (or you could say you sold the studio component and left the Parks and Cruiseline together). Every bar, the entire kids club, every restaurant except for maybe 1923, all the shows on board, all the movies onboard, all of the character meet and greets, all of that would need to be licensed. So by the time you pay for all the licenses what have you gained by buying the cruise part of the business? About the only thing you would own outright is the bridge, engineering space and crew cabins.

You get the license when you buy the division. If Disney was ever broken up, I would expect the Disney Experiences to be sold intact. It is by far the most attractive, most profitable and the division with the most growth potential. Disney Consumer Product is a key part of the division and controls all licenses. It would be sold as a unit with all the licenses to existing IP going staying with them.

 

[Steelers0854]

You get the license when you buy the division. If Disney was ever broken up, I would expect the Disney Experiences to be sold intact. It is by far the most attractive, most profitable and the division with the most growth potential. Disney Consumer Product is a key part of the division and controls all licenses. It would be sold as a unit with all the licenses to existing IP going staying with them.

If the rights went with the Disney Experiences then the Studio part of the business would be worthless, so why break apart and sell?

 

[Brianstl]

If the rights went with the Disney Experiences then the Studio part of the business would be worthless, so why break apart and sell?

Because almost every time a company is broken up and divisions are spun off you find one division to spin off that gets the least desirable assets and loaded with the debt. Disney Experiences is the most valuable asset and the one with the most growth potential. It is the only reason Disney is trading above 100. If for some reason a buyer or Disney's board ever decided to break up the company, it is the one division that would get everything they needed from the current company because it is what would give the most value to any break up.

 

[Cfabar1]

I don’t think there is any desire to break up Disney today.

It may happen in my lifetime, but I doubt it.

It could be acquired, and Iger was very prescient in his plan to “bulk up” the company for the past 15-20 years or so, or created the whole trend, who knows.

Realistically, I don’t see Disney as a target for acquisition at this point. Apple, is the only company I could imagine doing so. If they did, I would imagine they’d be smart enough to leave the company alone for a while at least. Apple is not known for large acquisitions, which makes this unlikely.

I don’t see Paramount, Comcast, Netflix getting DOJ approval for a deal. Paramount at that point would control three broadcast networks.

 

[mamaofsix]

To add, there is language in the POS that does mention something about things.

Interested to hear more about this...