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Barron's: Apple Could Buy Disney

by , 4:15 PM EST, February 27th, 2006

Barron's over the weekend speculated (subscription required) that Apple could make a bid to buy Disney, now that CEO Steve Jobs is its largest shareholder and sits on its Board of Directors. The financial publication quoted analyst Christopher Whalen as saying: "I think he has an open option."

Mr. Whalen, who is managing director of Institutional Risk Analytics, continued: "Disney is badly undervalued right now. Jobs might get an opportunity to take it out." Greg Morcroft, writing about the news for MarketWatch, added: "Whalen argues that Jobs' unique familiarity with both the content and technolgy sides of Hollywood make the case for a bid more compelling."

The Orlando Business Journal noted that Disney's stock was up and Apple's was down in early Monday trading, in light of the speculation. Apple's shares rebounded before ending the day at US$70.99, down 0.66%. Disney closed trading at $28.39, up 1.47%. Its stock never dipped into negative territory.

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Close Name:Rainy Day Posts: 607 Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Mon Feb 27, 2006 5:37 pm Subject: Think of the possibilities:

An audio Disneyland guidebook/podcast you can download at the front gate, and an iPod sales kiosk for those poor souls unfortunate enough not to have one yet?

Think Differently


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Close Name:Guest
Mon Feb 27, 2006 6:47 pm Subject: Buyout?

Apple is in no financial position to buy out such a humungous entity like the Walt Disney Company.


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Close Name:Guest
Mon Feb 27, 2006 6:53 pm Subject: RE: Buyout?

Apple has at least $4 billion in cash on its books. That, plus Steve Jobs' huge equity positions in both Apple and Disney makes a buyout extremely feasible.


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Close Name:Guest
Mon Feb 27, 2006 6:57 pm Subject: 4 billion...

..and isn't WDC worth about 30 billion?


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Close Name:Guest
Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:00 pm Subject: Not in a million years.

Why would Steve want to weigh himself down by buying the megalith that is Disney? What other parts of the company would he have any interest in? I am already afraid that they have made a mistake in taking over Disney's animation dept.- that it's going to suck up all of their time and creative energy to battle the mindset in that dept.

Think I'm joking? Go to the Apple movie trailers site and take a look at the next two Disney films- Shaggy Dog (live action) and The Wild (CGI). It's not too strong to call each of these films cringe-worthy, cynical trash. Let's find the humor in knocking an old woman up into a tree, and interrupting an animated talking creature while it's reading the newspaper and taking a dump!- I'm not joking. It's mind-boggling to contemplate the creative bankruptcy that brought forth these abominations- The Wild is a blatant and ugly-looking rip-off of what was an already pretty mediocre film, Madagascar- another film about Animals Breaking Out of The Zoo And Having A Big Adventure In The Big City!!!!! I'm sure that was the name of the computer program that churned out the script for this steaming pile.....
And John Lasseter somehow has to go in and change the hearts and minds of these folks??? To get them to CONSIDER putting out a story with a plot, and a heart, ala Pixar?

Good freaking luck, John.. and Steve. And be prepared for the Disney culture to suck all the life, and joy, from your lives.


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Close Name:deasys Posts: 296 Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:38 am Subject:

Quote
Guest wrote:
Apple is in no financial position to buy out such a humungous entity like the Walt Disney Company.


Apple is larger than Disney. Go check the market capitalizations of the two companies (AAPL, DIS).


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Close Name:deasys Posts: 296 Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:39 am Subject:

Quote
Guest wrote:
Apple has at least $4 billion in cash on its books.


Apple has at least $8.5 billion in cash on its books.


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Close Name:Tiger Posts: 1018 Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Tue Feb 28, 2006 11:45 am Subject: And

Zero debt. Imagine what you could buy with $8.5 billion in cash as collateral and zero debt.

Disney was run way down by Eisner and is a very viable target for Apple, if they want them. It's still a big if.

The World of Tomorrow display would likely change drastically!


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