Communications services shares slipped as big market capitalization leaders pulled back amid uncertainty around rate cuts.
Disney and Comcast's NBCUniversal have clashed in their negotiations to resolve ownership of Hulu, with a significant disagreement over how to value the streaming service raising the prospect of a court battle, according to people familiar with the situation. The entertainment companies are in the late stages of a complex process to determine how much Disney, which owns two-thirds of Hulu, should pay to acquire the remaining one-third stake held by Comcast. Comcast pegged Hulu's value north of $40 billion, while Disney's estimate was around $27.5 billion, the floor price the two sides had set under a pact they struck several years ago.
Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global, in coming days will weigh whether to approve a merger of the entertainment company with Skydance Media after a special committee of its board agreed to recommend that deal, or whether to pursue a sale of her family's holding company at a premium, The Wall Street Journal reports citing people familiar with the situation.
Write to Patrick Sullivan at patrick.sullivan@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-31-24 1717ET
