Hulu Stake Sale Kickoff Moved Up To September; Valuation Likely To Exceed Initial $27.5B Benchmark

Comcast and Disney have modified their Hulu agreement to enable the expected buyout of Comcast’s one-third stake in the streamer to begin on September 30 instead of next January. The news was shared at a Goldman Sachs conference appearance by Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, who said the initial minimum valuation of $27.5 billion for Hulu agreed to in 2019 was “just a hypothetical.” He suggested the final price tag could be much higher. Roberts said both companies “wanted to get this behind us,” so they reached an agreement last week to accelerate the timeline.