Fubo Approves Hulu Merger

 Fubo shareholders have voted to approve a planned merger with Hulu + Live TV, which will form a larger company under Disney’s control. We have Brandon Blake, entertainment lawyer at Blake & Wang P.A, with all the details.


                                                                             Brandon Blake

Subject to Governmental Green Light

Fubo is a niche streaming platform, focusing on over-the-top sports streaming. The Disney deal has been in the works since January this year. Live sports programming has been a real growth area for streaming over the last few years, and Disney has been making considerable inroads into their sports offerings in a bid for greater share of the market. 


 For Fubo, the shareholder vote will be the final step before the merger heads to regulatory authorities for approval. If the deal goes ahead as planned, Fubo will merge with Hulu + Live TV, the Hulu streaming platform’s sister and currently under 70% Disney ownership. Their existing management team will remain in charge, and both offerings will remain as separate platforms for now. 

Automatic Stock Conversion

Once regulatory procedures are out of the way, all outstanding shares of Fubo’s common stock will automatically be converted to shares in the merged entity, and it will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FUBO. Currently, the deal is expected to close either in quarter 4 this year, or the first months of 2026. 


While Disney itself already has live sports streaming services on offer, it is likely they are keen on the Fubo deal as a move to not only consolidate their sports portfolio, but also improve their leverage for rights negotiations. However, there could be regulatory difficulties ahead, given Disney’s already strong market share in streaming. 


For now, it is business as usual for Fubo, but it will be interesting to see what Disney decides to do with the service further should the merger go ahead.


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