Comedian and media mogul Byron Allen made a $10 billion offer to acquire ABC TV network, FX and National Geographic cable channels owned by Walt Disney.
According to Bloomberg reports, Allen’s offer is “preliminary and could change,” further stating that he would work with banks and private equity firms to finance the deal.
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Byron Allen aims to acquire Disney’s ABC TV network, including, FX, & National Geographic, for $10 billion. This offer may adjust based on last year’s earnings, w/ the final bid being 8x the EBITDA. Allen seeks funding & may sell non-ABC local TV stations to avoid conflicts pic.twitter.com/eN9LRBIF5z
— Earn Your Leisure (@EarnYourLeisure) September 15, 2023
Allen has invested as a producer in the past, spending over $1.3 billion in assets to build his media portfolio, some of them including the Weather Channel and local TV stations from Honolulu and Tucson.
Disney CEO Bob Iger hinted back in July that Disney was opening to sell some of its television assets as consumers shifted to steaming networks, threatening cable channels.
“While we are open to considering a variety of strategic options for our linear businesses, at this time The Walt Disney Company has made no decision with respect to the divestiture of ABC or any other property and any report to that effect is unfounded.”
CNN reported more than half-dozen ABC News staffers were “freaking out” about new potential corporate parents and what any new acquisition might mean for them.
“Everyone is freaking the f**k out,” one ABC News staffer mentioned.
“It’s all anyone at work is talking about,” added another.
Walt Disney’s streaming unit has lost more than $11 billion since it debuted Disney+ in 2019, with this last quarter causing more than $152 million in losses. News may arise when Allen takes the stage at the Code conference on September 28.
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