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Billionaire activist investor Daniel Loeb backed off from pushing Walt Disney CoDIS to spin off ESPN, saying he has a “better understanding” of the sports television network’s potential for growth, Reuters reports.
Recently, Disney Chief Bob Chapek reaffirmed the value of ESPN to the media company.
Loeb looks forward to seeing ESPN Chair James Pitaro execute the growth and innovation plans, “generating considerable synergies as part of” Disney, he said in a tweet.
Loeb, who runs Third Point, in August disclosed a stake of $1 billion in Disney and planned to push the company to make a string of changes, from spinning off ESPN to buying back shares and adding board members.
Chapek confirmed reports that Disney had received numerous inquiries from companies seeking to buy ESPN earlier this year.
“It’s been a great cash flow generator for us, which is, as we ramp up with streaming, kind of helps pay the bills,” said Chapek.
Third Point, which owns roughly 0.4% stake in Disney, has also proposed that Disney accelerate the timetable for buying the remaining stake in streaming service Hulu from minority stakeholder Comcast CorpCMCSA ahead of the planned 2024 acquisition.
