The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) surprised investors with a groundbreaking deal in the consumer discretionary sector with struggling live sports and TV streaming provider FuboTV Inc. (NYSE: FUBO). In a transaction that turned an adversary into a partner, Disney will merge its Hulu + Live TV business with FuboTV’s sports-focused streaming platform to create a combined virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD). The new entity will operate as Fubo but will be 70% owned by Disney.
Fubo will operate the newly formed Fubo and Hulu Live + TV businesses to a combined 6.2 million subscribers. FuboTV will also drop its earlier antitrust lawsuit against Disney, Fox Co. (NASDAQ: FOXA) and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ: WBD), the planned launch of Venu Sports, which was scrapped after the announcement.
