Hulu Acquisition: Disney Secures Full Ownership

In a significant development in the streaming industry, The Walt Disney Company has finalized its acquisition of NBCUniversal’s remaining stake in Hulu. This move, which concludes a prolonged valuation dispute, sees Disney paying an additional $438.7 million to Comcast’s NBCUniversal, thereby securing full ownership of the streaming platform.

The agreement, announced on June 10, 2025, marks the end of a years-long appraisal process. Disney’s Chief Executive Officer, Robert Iger, expressed satisfaction with the resolution, highlighting the productive partnership with NBCUniversal. “Completing the Hulu acquisition paves the way for a deeper and more seamless integration of Hulu’s general entertainment content with Disney+ and, soon, with ESPN’s direct-to-consumer product, providing an unrivaled value proposition for consumers,” Iger stated.

The acquisition is set to close on or before July 24, 2025. Disney disclosed that the additional payment will be recorded in Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, which will reduce Net income attributable to Disney in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income for the fiscal third quarter. However, this amount is expected to be excluded when Disney reports Adjusted Earnings per share, and thus, it is not anticipated to impact Disney’s previous guidance on fiscal 2025 adjusted earnings per share.

This acquisition follows Disney’s earlier purchase of Comcast’s 33% stake in Hulu in 2023, for which Disney paid $8.6 billion, reflecting Hulu’s guaranteed minimum value of $27.5 billion. The two companies had agreed on this floor value in 2019. Disney initially took two-thirds ownership of Hulu when it acquired Fox Corp.’s entertainment assets. The subsequent appraisal process, initially expected to conclude in 2024, involved differing valuations from Disney and NBCUniversal’s appraisers. The process was ultimately concluded by a third appraiser, as per an SEC filing.

The resolution of this dispute allows Disney to fully integrate Hulu’s content with its existing streaming services, enhancing its competitive position in the rapidly evolving digital entertainment landscape.