A Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing made public on Tuesday showed that Disney paid $900 million to Major League Baseball (MLB) earlier this month to acquire the league's remaining 15% stake in BAMTech.
Now, Disney owns 100 percent of BAMTech, the streaming firm that powers Disney+ and the media company's other direct-to-consumer services, according to TechCrunch.
Disney Now Owns 100% of BAMTech
It was noted in the SEC filing that MLB's interest in BAMTech was recorded at $828 million, and this month, Disney bought out MLB's stake for $900 million.
Just last week, Disney made an announcement that Bob Iger is returning to the company, replacing Bob Chapek as CEO.
Since this transaction between MLB and Disney was undertaken earlier this month, it was probably one of the last big decisions made under Chapek, as per TechCrunch.
It was indicated in the filing that Iger will be the one who will initiate organizational and operating changes within the company in order to address the goals of the board in the coming months.
In 2000, MLB established MLB Advanced Media to power its website and online streaming. In 2015, the company spun off the streaming division as BAMTech.
After a year, Disney invested $1 billion to obtain a 33 percent stake in BAMTech. In 2017, an additional $1.58 billion was invested by the media conglomerate to acquire 42 percent more stake.
In 2021, the company bought an additional 10 percent stake from the National Hockey League (NHL) for $350 million. This made Disney's stake in BAMTech a total of 85 percent.
Now, with the latest transaction between the media conglomerate and MLB, Disney fully acquired 100 percent of BAMTech's ownership.
The decision of the company to buy the remaining 15 percent stake comes days before Disney+ launches its ad-supported tier.
The streaming service recorded an increase of 12 million subscribers in Q3 of this year. Now, its subscribers have a total of 164.2 million globally.
Disney to Undergo Restructuring Under Bob Iger
Under Iger, Disney will undergo restructuring. According to a memo to Disney staffers on November 21, the new CEO wrote that restructuring at the company will begin "in the coming weeks."
According to Variety, Kareem Daniel, chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, will leave the company as part of the restructuring.
Disney said in the filing that even if the plans are still in the early stages, changes in the company's structure and operations can be expected.
The distribution approach and the businesses/distribution platforms that are selected for the initial distribution of content would also likely be affected.
Meanwhile, Disney continues to own 67 percent of Hulu while NBCUniversal holds the remaining 33 percent. As of October 1, 2022, Hulu was recorded by Disney to be valued at $8.7 billion.
Under the 2019 agreement between the two companies, starting January 2024, NBCU has the option to require Disney to purchase NBCU's interest in Hulu.
Conversely, Disney has the option to require NBCU to sell the 33 percent stake in the streaming service. Either way, the buyout price will be based on Hulu's "equity fair value."
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