Nov 30, 2022 - Economy

Disney pays $900 million to buy the rest of streaming tech company

Dan Primack

Photo illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.

Walt Disney Co. paid $900 million to Major League Baseball for the remaining 15% stake in BAMTech, a streaming video tech company that powers Disney+.

Why it matters: This comes just days before Disney+ is set to launch an ad-supported tier, and ahead of a planned corporate restructuring under reinstated CEO Bob Iger.

Backstory: BAMTech was developed by MLB as an in-house advanced media business, before later spinning out as an independent company in 2015. Disney initially acquired a 33% stake in 2016, and then upped its position to 75% upon announcing its Disney+ plans in 2017. It subsequently bought out a 10% stake from the National Hockey League.

In addition to powering Disney+, BAMTech also is used for other Disney streaming properties like ESPN and Hulu.

The bottom line: All in, Disney paid $3.83 billion for BAMTech.

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Disney pays $900 million to buy the rest of streaming tech company

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