From 1957 to date, Disney has grown strategically, acquiring assets that complemented their brand, moving their needle, and guiding the platform's meteoric rise today. (If I was Netflix. I'd look over my shoulder)
It all starts with buying out their publisher, then the parks and engineering, hotels and rights, then deep into production, studios and ultimately content IP.
1957 - Western Publishing $562k
1960 - American Broadcasting $7.5m
1965 - Wed Enterprises $undisclosed
1982 - Retlaw Enterprises $43m
1987 - Wrather Corp $undisclosed
1993 - Miramax $60m
1996 - ABC Network, ESPN, A&E TV , DIC $19b
1998 - Starwave $400m
1999 - Infoseek $1.7b
2001 - Fox, Saban Entertainment $2.9b
2004 - Muppets Studio $75m
2006 - Pixar $7.4b
2008 - Jetix $Undisclosed
2009 - Hulu $Undisclosed
2012 - Lucasfilm $4b
2014 - Maker Studios $450m
2017 - BAMTech $2.6b
2019 - 21st Century Fox $71b
Total (disclosed) acquisition spend: $72b
Company value today: $93b
While that is an impressive run, using M&A is not solely the reserve of a large corporate entity. Far from it. Most businesses can use some form of this strategy to grow via merger or acquisition.
If you want to know more about how your business can grow with M&A, our diary is always open for bookings, so please drop me a message, or schedule a call on the meeting link in the comments.
Demystifying M&A with accessible acquisition strategies, advice and action. We are Orb.