The day after the board of Walt Disney Co. rejected an unsolicited $48.8 billion bid by Comcast Corp., Comcast seemed to be digging in its heels.
A source close to the cable company said that as of Tuesday afternoon, Comcast was not interested in raising its bid significantly to anywhere near the $27.02 Disney was fetching in late-morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Reuters reported. Disney closed Tuesday at $26.90.
The Comcast all-stock offer was initially valued at $26.47 a share when it was launched a week ago, but the value has declined in step with the price of Comcast stock. The value stood at $23.99 as of Tuesday’s market close.
“We are not interested in Disney at the current price levels,” the source told Reuters on Tuesday. Neither Disney nor Comcast would comment to the wire service.
Disney did complete a deal of its own on Tuesday when it acquired the Muppets franchise from the Jim Henson Co. Disney and Henson did not disclose financial terms, but Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that it included a payment of $40 million to $60 million plus a share of future Muppet profits.