Rumour: Disney Discussing Takeover Of Hasbro Next?

[Captain Comet]

Supposedly there's some sort of massive tax hike on this type of grand acquisition slated to come in next year- I was told (by my mother, who admittedly reads a lot of Drudge Report) that that may be why Disney bought up Lucasfilm now, because it'll cost more later. Not at all sure if that is true.

Dude my dad called me up and said the same thing. Totally a Right Wing/Drudge Report thing, but I'm too lazy to look it up on my own.

[Pariscub]

Don't forget, Hasbro also owns Dungeons and Dragons. If this means we could finally get a proper Dungeons and Dragons film, perhaps something based on the Forgotten Realms.... that would be very good.

And Hasbro owns Magic: The Gathering. Once again, a potential candidate for a movie or even a TV series or an animated film.

[the_Dagman]

Quite a few untapped IPs are wrapped up in Hasbro. I can see why Disney is eyeing the company.

[dbw8906]

Dude my dad called me up and said the same thing. Totally a Right Wing/Drudge Report thing, but I'm too lazy to look it up on my own.

I'm a corporate bean counter and this not a Drudge/Right Wing C O N-spiracy. Long-term capital gains tax from the sale of assets held more than one year are taxed at a rate of 15% for investors in the 25% income tax bracket or above (Lucas’s level), and zero for investors in the 10% or 15% bracket. Those rates are set to jump to 20% and 10%, respectively in January.

Lucas saved approximately 200 million by selling this year.

[Troy Brownfield]

The big question here would be the role of Mattel. Disney has done most of their toys thru Mattel since 1996 (the rest...Hasbro). But the very lucrative Cars line is Mattel, as have been all of the movie figures, Princess dolls, etc. since that time. Mattel remains the biggest toy company in the world. I have to imagine that even if Disney did buy Hasbro, then perhaps some degree of product might stick at Mattel.

[ewokpelts]

This is very interesting. Does anyone have anymore details on this?

HISTORY OF THE STAR WARS PREQUEL RUMORS (first article listed).

Lucasfilm got roughly 20% of Galoob's stock as part of the deal in 1997.

and here's a legal brief amending the original hasbro/lfl deal in 1997.
http://corporate.findlaw.com/contrac...d-hasbro2.html

this one gave LFL a warrant for 1.6 million shares(fully paid and valued at $35 per share) as a condition for LFL to surrender their Warrant got Galoob's 3 million plus shares(that were valued at $15 in 1997)


And I believe LFL still got the $140 million in royalty advances from Galoob. (I dont know what Hasbro proper gave them, but the articles I'm seeing today say between 15-20% of projected sales over the 10 year deal, which was double the normal ammount given as advance in that era).

Assuming LFL has not claimed those warrants, Hasbro may be either negotiating to buy those back from lfl/disney, or Disney is using that as leverage in potential merger talks.

[ewokpelts]

The big question here would be the role of Mattel. Disney has done most of their toys thru Mattel since 1996 (the rest...Hasbro). But the very lucrative Cars line is Mattel, as have been all of the movie figures, Princess dolls, etc. since that time. Mattel remains the biggest toy company in the world. I have to imagine that even if Disney did buy Hasbro, then perhaps some degree of product might stick at Mattel.

I suspect that any Disney Owned properties made by mattel would continue until the contract runs out.
The only way to get those properties back would be if Mattel(or any other toy maker) tried to hurt disney brands' by sabotaging sales.

[ewokpelts]

I'm a corporate bean counter and this not a Drudge/Right Wing C O N-spiracy. Long-term capital gains tax from the sale of assets held more than one year are taxed at a rate of 15% for investors in the 25% income tax bracket or above (Lucas’s level), and zero for investors in the 10% or 15% bracket. Those rates are set to jump to 20% and 10%, respectively in January.

Lucas saved approximately 200 million by selling this year.

but as he plans to DONATE the proceeds of the LFL sale, would he be exempt from that big of a cap gains hit?

[bingbangboom]

I could see Disney going after Sony's entertainment division more so than Hasbro. I am sure they already have shares but they see the potential in controlling everything. They would make 100% of all toy merch pretty much with owning Hasbro. Sony has Bond and Spider-Man. Disney wants Spider-Man, period. Sony thought it had a lock with entertainment but just hasn't gone their way. PS3 adds to that too.

[Lars Jensen]

Is this going to end with Disney snapping up Sony's entertainment arm? They're supposedly having a hard time, and have been rumoured as looking to sell.

The James Bond franchise could certainly use the financial stability.

That whole Lucasfilm affair was so seemingly preposterous I might actually still run it on April Fools Day next year.

Disney buying a Disney-style franchise like Lucasfilm doesn't sound all that preposterous to me. No more than, say, buying Pixar.