Disney pays $900 million to buy the rest of streaming tech company
- Dan Primack, author of Axios Pro Rata
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.