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Disney said Wednesday that it had agreed to buy Comcast‘s one-third stake in streaming service Hulu, a long-expected outcome.
Disney said it expects to pay Comcast’s NBCUniversal about $8.61 billion by Dec. 1, reflecting the guaranteed minimum value of $27.5 billion for the streaming service the two sides agreed upon in 2019. That deal sprang from Disney’s purchase of Fox’s entertainment assets, which gave it two-thirds of Hulu.
Disney could pay more based on Hulu’s equity value as of Sept. 30. The company said the appraisal process should wrap up some time next year.
“We look forward to the appraisal process and the determination of Hulu’s fair market value which we expect will reflect the extraordinary value of the business,” Comcast said in a statement.
Originally, Disney and Comcast had set a deadline to resolve Hulu’s ownership by January. In September, the rival media giants moved up that deadline, effectively acknowledging the outcome announced Wednesday.
Disney already sells Hulu as part of a streaming bundle with its Disney+ and ESPN+ products.
Read the full release from Disney.
Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.