It may seem like one of the largest companies in the world will always be its own entity, but as many people say, “Everything has a price.” The Walt Disney Company is a major player in entertainment, theme parks, food, resorts, and much more across every corner of the globe. Still, there are always those looking to advance their own success and that is why Wall Street believes Apple could very well look into possibly buying Disney .
While Disney is one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world, there are a few others who can hold their on in their company. One of those companies is Apple who sports cash assets of more than $200 billion and investors are always curious as to what they may do with that excess money.
Well, once again, the rumors of Apple looking into buying The Walt Disney Company are coming about and they seems stronger than ever.
Business Insider states that the belief going around right now is that Apple is looking to buy Disney and RBC analyst Steven Cahill sees it as a possibility.
“Bulls think it portends well for a swan song exit via a sale to a giant like AAPL.”
As things currently stand, Disney has no less than two dozen huge projects in the works and those are spread across their theme parks and the world of entertainment. In just two short months, Pandora – The World of Avatar will open as a brand new land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the hype is at an all-time high.
In 2019, Star Wars -themed lands will be opening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World and at Disneyland Park in California. Disney will also be opening Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios in the coming years and add two new ships to its Disney Cruise Line fleet in 2021 and 2023.
One of the biggest things that is making Disney so appealing to an investor such as Apple is content and they know that Disney does it well. In 2016 alone, Disney was responsible for half of the top 10 grossing films:
- Finding Dory
- Zootopia
- Star Wars: Rogue One
- The Jungle Book
- Captain America: Civil War – Highest grossing film of 2016
The live-action version of Beauty and the Beast has already earned more than $540 million worldwide in one week, according to Box Office Mojo . With many more live remakes of Disney animated classics, Pixar, new animated films, the Star Wars galaxy, and the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe, there is no end to the huge amounts of money that the company will make in theater
Now, the idea of Apple buying Disney isn’t necessarily new as The Washington Post reported that the deal was “frighteningly obvious” to happen back in 2014. Of course, nothing has happened as of yet, but the rumors simply won’t go away about this merger or takeover, of sorts.
While a deal of this immense size may not happen any year soon, it does seem to be one that keeps coming back around. It may not even happen while current Walt Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger is still in his position even though he did just extend his deal to stay in his current position until 2019, per Fortune .
There are a number of things that would have to happen and take place in order for Apple to buy Disney, but it isn’t fundamentally out of the question. Liberty Media Chairman John Malone believes that global companies such as Apple and Disney would be a perfect fit if Disney could just get rid of the domestic-based ESPN.
For years now, the idea of Apple actually buying Disney has been rumored and it is something that a lot of people say could never possibly happen. If that truly is the case, though, why do the rumors keep coming up every few months? As Disney continues to broaden its wide span with new additions to Walt Disney World and Disneyland, more Marvel movies, the sports world, and more, it seems only reasonable that a multi-hundred billion giant such as Apple would want to acquire them.
[Featured Image by Danny Cox]