Walt Disney - M&A Summary and Business Overview

MediaCompany

Walt Disney M&A Summary

Walt Disney has acquired 22 companies. A total of 3 acquisitions came from private equity firms. It has also divested 8 assets.

Walt Disney’s largest acquisition to date was in 2017, when it acquired Twenty-First Century Fox for $66.1B. It’s largest disclosed sale occurred in 2019, when it sold The Walt Disney Company - 21 Regional Sports Networks & Fox College Sports to Sinclair Broadcast Group for $10.6B. Walt Disney has acquired in 4 different US states, and 6 countries. The Company’s most targeted sectors include internet software and services (34%) and media (29%).

Walt Disney Business Overview

Where is Walt Disney headquartered?

Walt Disney is headquartered in Burbank, California.

What is Walt Disney’s revenue?

Walt Disney disclosed revenue of 82,722M USD for 2022 and 67,148M USD for 2021.

How many employees does Walt Disney have?

Walt Disney has 175,000 employees.

What sector is Walt Disney in?

Walt Disney is a media company.

When was Walt Disney founded?

Walt Disney was founded in 1923.

M&A Summary

  • M&A Total Activity29
    • M&A Buy Activity21
    • M&A Sell Activity8
  • Total Sectors Invested 7
  • Total Countries Invested 6
  • M&A Buy/Sell Connections 11
  • M&A Advisors 4

Walt Disney

The Walt Disney Company

500 South Buena Vista Street,
Burbank, California 91521
United States,
(818) 560-1000
www.thewaltdisneycompany.com

Walt Disney is a diversified worldwide entertainment company. Walt Disney operates in five business segments. These include Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, Consumer Products and Interactive. The Media Networks segment includes international and domestic cable television networks, a domestic broadcast television network, television production operations, domestic and international television distribution, domestic television stations, domestic broadcast radio networks and stations, and publishing and digital operations. Walt Disney's Parks and Resorts segment owns, operates, or has in interest in theme parks, hotels, a cruise line and other properties in the US and Asia. The Studio Entertainment segment produces and acquires live-action and animated motion pictures, direct-to-video content, musical recordings and live stage plays. The Consumer Products segment designs, develops, publishes, promotes and sells a wide variety of products based on existing and new characters and other Company intellectual property. The Interactive segment creates and delivers branded entertainment and lifestyle content across interactive media platforms. Walt Disney was founded in 1923 and is based in Burbank, California.


M&A Summary

Buy vs Sell

Year ≤ '19 '20 '21 '22 '23 '24 T
Buy (0.0/yr) # 21 - - - - - 21
vol $108.0B $108.0B
Sell (0.6/yr) # 5 1 2 - - - 8
vol $11.9B $11.9B
  29

Most Recent M&A

Company Date Value Type
Estudios TeleMexico 2021-10-28 - Divestiture
San Pedro Garza García, Mexico · www.estudiostelemexico.com
Fox TeleColombia 2021-10-28 - Divestiture
Bogotá, Colombia · www.foxtelecolombia.com
The Walt Disney Co. - Foxnext Games 2020-01-22 - Divestiture
San Jose, California
The Walt Disney Company - 21 Regional Sports Networks & Fox College Sports 2019-05-03 10.6B USD Divestiture
Burbank, California
Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. 2017-12-14 66.1B USD Add-on Acquisition
New York, New York · www.21cf.com
Euro Disney Associés S.A.S. 2017-02-10 - Add-on Acquisition
Chessy, France · www.disneylandparis.com
BAMTech 2016-08-09 - Stake Purchase
New York, New York · www.mlbam.com
FilmFlex Movies Ltd. 2014-05-28 - Divestiture
London, United Kingdom · www.filmflexmovies.co.uk
Maker Studios, Inc. 2014-03-24 950M USD Add-on Acquisition
Culver City, California · www.makerstudios.com
Lucasfilm Ltd. 2012-10-30 4.1B USD Add-on Acquisition
San Francisco, California · www.lucasfilm.com
View All >>

Business Unit M&A

Company Acquired Add-On/Sale Date #
Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. 2017-12-14 Endemol Shine Group B.V. 2019-10-26 2
New York, New York · www.21cf.com Amsterdam, Netherlands · www.endemolshinegroup.com
Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. 2017-12-14 Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network LLC 2019-08-29 1
New York, New York · www.21cf.com New York, New York · www.yesnetwork.com
Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc.    - FamilyFun 2012-01-20 1
Glendale,, California New York, New York
ABC, Inc. 1995-08-01 Chilton Business Group 1997-06-23 1
Burbank, California · www.disneyabctv.com Radnor, Pennsylvania

M&A by Sector

Sector Buy # Value Sell # Value
Media 6 (29%) 105.9B (98%) 5 (63%) 11.3B (95%)
Internet Software and Services 7 (33%) 390M (< 1%) - -
Digital Media 4 (19%) 1.8B (2%) 1 (13%) -
Publishing - - 2 (25%) 650M (5%)
Communications 1 (5%) - - -
Consumer Products 1 (5%) - - -
Leisure 1 (5%) - - -
Software 1 (5%) - - -
Total 21 $108.0B 8 $11.9B

By Geo

State/Country Buy Value Sell Value
United States 16 107.6B 5 11.9B
  California 10 37.5B 3 11.3B
  New York 4 70.1B - -
  Georgia 1 - - -
  Colorado 1 - - -
Canada 1 350M - -
  British Columbia 1 350M - -
Colombia - - 1 -
Finland 1 20M - -
France 1 - - -
India 1 - - -
Mexico - - 1 -
Spain 1 - - -
United Kingdom - - 1 -
Domestic 16 (76%) 107.6B (100%) 5 (63%) 11.9B (100%)
Cross-border 5 (24%) 370M (< 1%) 3 (38%) -
Total 21 $108.0B 8 $11.9B

Top M&A Advisors

Financial Deals
J.P. Morgan Securities
1
Allen & Company
1
Legal Deals
Covington & Burling
1
Cravath, Swaine & Moore
1

Deal Values

buy # Total
> $1B 6 $105.9B
$100M to $1B 3 $2.1B
< $100M 3 $80M
TOTAL $108.0B
Largest Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc.
$66.1B (2017-12-14)
sell # Total
> $1B 1 $10.6B
$100M to $1B 2 $1.3B
TOTAL $11.9B
Largest The Walt Disney Company - 21 Regional Sports Networks & Fox College Sports
$10.6B (2019-05-03)

M&A Connections

Deals
Acquired from
Investor(s)
10%
2 (10%)
Divested to
Investor(s)
13%
1 (13%)
Strategic(s)
88%
7 (88%)

 Subscribe to unlock this and 201,535
investor and company profiles

Sign-up today to get full access

  • check  Unlimited Searches
  • check  Unlimited Profile Views
  • check  Build and Export Lists of
    • PE Backed Companies
    • Direct Investors & Acquirers
    • Advisors
    • Deals
    • & More

What's Mergr?

We built Mergr to save people the arduous and time-consuming process of tracking when companies are bought, sold, and who currently owns them.

Every day, new opportunities emerge around M&A and we help professionals of all types comb through transactions, investors, and corporate acquirers via an easy-to-use web database that is accessible to anyone.

Try us for 1 week free today!

Mergr, the Easiest-to-Use PE and M&A DB


Key Benefits

  • Stay informed on events in your industry
  • M&A research that takes seconds (not all afternoon)
  • Better understand your customers and prospects
  • Discover active buyers (or sellers)
Search
  • 4.5K Private Equity Firms
  • 193K M&A Transactions
  • 197K Companies Involved in M&A
    (Buyer, Seller, or Target)
  • 3.6K M&A Advisors
    (Investment Banks and Law Firms)
  • 75K M&A Contacts
    (PE and M&A Advisors)

Ready to try?

Join FREE for 1 Week

No obligation. Cancel anytime.