Will Disney Buy Univision?
Is the Disney shopping spree over? Only time will tell, but right now some folks believe that Univision should be on the company’s list after Fox and Hulu.
Univision: A Growth Opportunity?
The Hollywood Reporter posted:
Anecdotally, Univision Communications should have suitors lining up to kick its tires since it announced July 3 that it is for sale. After all, Hispanic Americans are 20 percent of the U.S. population and the nation’s second-fastest growing segment, according to Claritas, a marketing firm. Each Hispanic household will spend $2.5 million in a lifetime, about $539,000 more than the average white household, a statistic that whets the appetite of savvy advertisers.
The U.S. Hispanic audience “represents one of the very few certain growth opportunities in today’s media,” Univision crowed in its July 3 statement confirming that its board “is reviewing strategic options.”
Nonetheless, a deeper dive into Univision’s financials might indicate it will be difficult for its private investors — including Thomas H. Lee Partners, Providence Equity Partners, and Madison Dearborn Partners — to make much of a profit on their $12.3 billion purchase in 2007.
Some analysts believe that Univision would be an excellent purchase for Disney.
“Easily the most logical and sensical of the purchasers of Univision would be Disney,” says Jimmy Schaeffler of the Carmel Group. Univision’s audience “will not only buy your content wares but will attend your theme parks, especially in Spanish strongholds, such as Florida and Southern California.”
Univision, in fact, recently moved its headquarters from New York to Miami where the bulk of its 4,000 employees work.
“Univision By Disney would be a brilliantly strategic move on the part of the folks in Burbank,” says Schaelffler. “No other potential buyer has quite the gravitas combined with quite the need.”
Not So Fast
But others believe it’s just too soon after the Fox/Disney marriage for the company to adopt any other outlets.
But Disney is still digesting its $71.3 billion acquisition of most of 21st Century Fox so it might not have the appetite for Univision. Thus, Saban might have more luck with Shari Redstone…
Stay tuned.
Disney CEO Bob Iger is said to be joining some of the most influential people in media and technology for a retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho.
So, do you think Disney should keep shopping? Is Univision the right buy? Let us know in the comments.