Activist Investor ValueAct Has Amassed a Massive Amount of Disney Stock
Bob Iger and The Walt Disney Company may have a new ally in their looming proxy battle with Nelson Peltz and Trian Management.
ValueACT Capital has amassed a significant stake in Disney, after buying up stock in the company during the Hollywood strikes.


Photo: ValueAct Capital
ValueACT is an activist investor company that holds board seats on Salesforce, Microsoft, and Adobe. They also own significant stakes in the New York Times and Spotify.
The company reportedly believes that Disney’s theme parks and consumer products business is worth over $80 a share.
They argue that the theme park unit has a high return on capital and puts Disney in a unique position to monetize its intellectual property. Additionally, the business is enhanced by technology not threatened by it.
Opportunities in Streaming
When it comes to streaming, ValueAct believes that with the streaming wars winding down, Disney can focus on profitability and create sustainable revenue.


Source: techhive.com
ValueACT has previously advocated for and helped create, bundles, pricing tiers, and advertising stacks that have increased average revenue per user.
As an example, the New York Times and Spotify both increased their bundles and thus subscription prices.
The New York Times stock then went from $30 a share to $45 per share while Spotify saw a jump from $80 to $175 a share. ValueACT believes that Disney has similar opportunities for bundling and price tiers with its present assets.


Photo: Hulu
Based on previous examples, ValueAct believes that a similar strategy could see Disney’s stock price rise as high as $190 per share.
ValueAct Would Likely Want a Seat on the Board
Like Nelson Peltz, ValueAct will likely be seeking a seat on the Disney board. Unlike the often antagonistic Peltz, however, ValueAct has a reputationally for working amicably and constructively with company boards.


Nelson Peltz
Last but not least, ValueAct was previously involved in a CEO succession strategy at Microsoft that saw Satya Nadella replace Steve Ballmer. That succession was clearly a success. With Disney similarly looking to identify Bob Iger’s replacement, ValueAct could be invaluable.


Image: Disney
If Disney wants to fend off Peltz once again and acquire a new ally to help them move into the streaming era, they could do a lot worse than ValueAct.
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