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Credit: Disney DiningIn a new note published by Laura Martin at Needham and Company, the Wall Street bank would state that Apple could be worth 15-25% more if the company were to merge with the Walt Disney Company.
Related: Is An Apple-Disney Merger On The Horizon? One Disney ‘Insider’ Believes So
An Apple and Disney merger wouldn’t be a farfetched assumption. Bob Iger and Apple have a history. Iger called Apple co-founder Steve Jobs a close friend and has previously been quoted as stating that if not for Jobs’ death in 2011, The Walt Disney Company and Apple likely would have merged, or at least the negotiation would have taken place.
Acquisitions are part of Iger’s genetic makeup, it seems. Under Iger, Disney spent nearly $100 billion to acquire animation giant Pixar in 2006, superhero comic franchise Marvel in 2009, “Star Wars”-powered Lucasfilm in 2012, and Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox in 2019. But there was one acquisition he’s publicly lamented as a transformational deal that got away — a combination with the tech powerhouse Apple.
It seems that Wall Street is starting to come to grips with a marriage between the two companies. Wall Street analyst Laura Martin would go on to say in her latest note to clients that the two together would be better off for both businesses. She further states, “We believe that great content and a strong distribution footprint are complementary networks. That is, both are worth more if they have the other.”
Martin explains in her letter to investors that Apple may be the best content distributor globally, with an existing user base of 2 billion high-end mobile devices owned by 1.25 billion unique, wealthy users. She added that Disney is best at creating 5-star content franchises, which it distributes globally across all screens and in the physical world.
Should a deal occur, it would come at a hefty price tag. With a $180 billion market valuation, it’s expected that the cost to buy Disney would be upwards of a $200 billion premium.
The acquisition makes sense in several ways, but most importantly, it would answer the question of who would succeed Iger when he retires.
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