The bad news for Comcast: Walt Disney Company's board of directors turned their takeover bid down unanimously late Feb. 16. The good news, depending on how you look at it: The Disney board said they'd consider a higher offer.
"We are committed to creating shareholder value now and in the future and will carefully consider any legitimate proposal that would accomplish that objective," a statement from the board said after the vote. "In any proposal by Comcast, or any other company, the board will consider and assess the value to be received in exchange for the shares of Disney, and also the appropriate premium to reflect the full value of Disney."
This action came a week after Disney chief Michael Eisner turned down an offer for talks from Comcast chief Brian Roberts in what the Associated Press called a brief telephone call. A merger would have created the world's largest media company.
The board said Comcast's initial offer – a stock swap of .78 per share – undervalued Disney by about $6.6 billion, based on the closing stock prices of both the day after Comcast made its offer known.
Comcast issued a Feb. 16 statement saying their offer equaled "a full and generous valuation based upon Disney's prospects and performance over a long period of time, representing a significant premium over Disney's unaffected share price during any relevant measurement period over the last three years. We maintain the belief that our merger proposal represents a sound and compelling proposition for both sets of shareholders."
