Disney Set to Pay Millions to For Next Takeover

Published: June 12, 2025

thomas-kelley-5YtjgRNTli4-unsplash — Photo from Thomas Kelley via Unsplash

By Michaela Gordoni

Disney is set to pay Comcast $438.7 million to take over Hulu, which will expand its size in the linear and streaming space.

“It’s also interesting to us that as many others exit that business, I think it gives us a stronger hand to stay in that business,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said about having both linear and streaming TV. “

“You know, we’re very focused. We will have, interestingly enough, a linear television business that’s paired with a streaming business,” he said. “So when you think about it, these spin-off companies won’t have the assets from a streaming perspective that we will have.”

SPG Global Principal and former Hulu and Netflix executive Simon Gallagher says Comcast sold for less than he expected.

“I think it landed in a fair spot they had already put down a significant amount of money. So it was only a slight uptick but certainly not as much as Comcast was looking for,” he said.

“It didn’t seem to have the uptick that I expected from when the negotiations began a couple of years ago,” he said. “I expected there might be a slightly higher uptick than what there has been. Certainly because you’ve started to see a lot of the streaming companies over the past six and 12 months, the majority of them are turning cash flow positive.”

He believes Hulu will be a part of Disney’s successful TV bundle.

“You also need to keep in mind that they’ve got a very successful product in ESPN, which is the reason they’re staying in the channel business,” Gallagher told CNBC.

It’s been a long time coming for Disney, as it started its Hulu acquisition in connection with its 21st Century Fox acquisition plans back in 2019, Variety reported. In a statement, Iger mentioned that he’s happy with the acquisition. Hulu’s “general entertainment” will integrate with Disney+ and with ESPN’s direct-to-consumer product, AP News reported.

Disney already paid $8.61 billion to have a stake in Hulu, so in total, it’s paid $9 billion. Comcast’s valuation of Hulu was valued at $5 billion more, but the companies agreed to settle closer to Disney’s evaluation, The Hollywood Reporter said.

A Comcast spokesperson said in a statement, “Hulu was a great start for us in streaming that generated nearly $10 billion in proceeds for Comcast and created an important audience for NBCUniversal’s world-class content. We wish Disney well with Hulu and appreciate the cooperative way our teams managed the partnership.”

The deal made Disney’s shares rise on Tuesday. If all goes according to plan, the transaction will finalize on July 24.

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