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Activist investor Dan Loeb on Monday said he has acquired a stake in Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) and called for sweeping changes at the entertainment giant, including a spinoff of the cable sports channel ESPN, share buybacks and board refresh.
The suggestions were made in a letter to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, where Loeb said his investment firm, Third Point, had taken a “significant stake” in the company in recent weeks.
Loeb made a reverse turn by acquiring a stake in the second quarter not long after liquidating the firm’s position in Disney during the first quarter.
“Our confidence in Disney’s current trajectory is such that we have, in recent weeks, repurchased a significant stake in the Company,” Loeb wrote to Chapek.
The billionaire investor laid out a list of changes he feels should be pursued to improve the company’s fortunes.
“ESPN is a great business that currently generates significant free cash flow,” Loeb said in the letter.
“Despite these advantages, we believe that a strong case can be made that the ESPN business should be spun off to shareholders with an appropriate debt load that will alleviate leverage at the parent company.”
“We welcome the views of all our investors,” Disney replied and said its third-quarter results showed that the company continues to deliver strong financial results.
Disney “has delivered this strong performance while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, including record streaming subscriptions and the reopening of our parks, where we have seen strong revenue and profit growth in our domestic parks business,” the entertainment giant said.
Shares of Disney, which were down 22% this year, rose as much as 3.6% to $125.96 on Monday in New York.
Picture Credit: Business Insider
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