The battle for Hulu comes to an end. Walt Disney Company (DIS.US) pays Comcast Corporation Class A (CMCSA.US) $4.387 billion to complete the full acquisition.

The Walt Disney Company (DIS.US) has agreed to pay $4.387 billion to Comcast Corporation Class A (CMCSA.US) to acquire its stake in the streaming service Hulu, ending a years-long evaluation process. In 2023, The Walt Disney Company announced plans to acquire Comcast Corporation Class A's 33% stake in Hulu. At that time, The Walt Disney Company paid $8.6 billion, reflecting Hulu's guaranteed minimum value of $27.5 billion. The two companies had reached an agreement on this minimum value in 2019. The statement from The Walt Disney Company was not surprising, as there had been widespread media reports about The Walt Disney Company's desire to fully own Hulu. The Walt Disney Company had acquired two-thirds of Hulu when it purchased entertainment assets from Fox. After the initial payment, The Walt Disney Company and Comcast Corporation Class A entered an evaluation process expected to be completed in 2024. The Walt Disney Company stated that its appraiser provided a valuation lower than the guaranteed minimum value, while NBCUniversal, under Comcast Corporation Class A, "came up with a valuation significantly above the guaranteed minimum value." According to documents from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, this process was completed by a third appraiser on Monday. The final transaction is expected to be completed on or before July 24. The Walt Disney Company will record this payment in its "net income attributable to non-controlling interests," reducing its "net income attributable to The Walt Disney Company" in the third quarter earnings statement. It is expected that this will not affect The Walt Disney Company's previously guided adjusted earnings for the fiscal year 2025. Bob Chapek, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said in a statement, "We are pleased that this matter has finally been resolved. We have established a productive partnership with NBCUniversal, and we wish them all the best." Chapek added that the completion of this acquisition paves the way for a "deeper, more seamless integration" of content between Hulu and Disney+, as well as the upcoming launch of the ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming app. The Walt Disney Company has already begun integrating its two existing services, which are currently bundled with the sports streaming service ESPN+. Comcast Corporation Class A's NBCUniversal has been focused on developing its streaming service Peacock since its launch in 2020. A spokesperson for Comcast Corporation Class A said in a statement on Monday, "Hulu has been a good start for our streaming business, bringing in nearly $10 billion in revenue for Comcast Corporation Class A and building an important audience for NBCUniversal's world-class content. We wish The Walt Disney Company success with Hulu and thank our teams for managing this partnership in a cooperative manner." According to The Walt Disney Company's latest financial report, as of March 29, Hulu has over 50 million subscribers. The total streaming subscription user base for The Walt Disney Company has reached 180.7 million, with the majority coming from Disney+. Comcast Corporation Class A reported in April that Peacock has 41 million subscribers.