Mike Cavanagh On Comcast’s M&A Options With Warner Bros. Discovery In Play

Comcast’s Co-CEO designate Mike Cavanagh said today that if the company was looking at M&A it would be interested in streaming and studio assets and that it will have more options post Versant spinoff than many seem to think.

“I think we’ve said repeatedly, and I’ll say it again, that the bar is very high for us to pursue any M&A transactions, given how strongly we feel about the businesses we have, the strategies we’re pursuing and the opportunities we have ahead of us,” he said on a call with analysts after quarterly earnings.

But, he told them, “You should expect us to look at things that are trading in the space around our industry. It’s our job to try to figure out if there are ways to add value.” He argues it’s a happening without M&A, through the Versant spin, pairing Peacock with NBC broadcast, attracting the NBA, wooing Taylor Sheridan and running a top Hollywood studio and a great parks business. businesses in the industry.

“I think the strategies we have are really sound and durable without M&A,” but Comcast would look hard at “streaming assets and studio assets, since there are no other parks assets out there … So I think in light of that, what we’d be looking for, and what we’re going to look like post Versant spin, I think more things are viable than maybe some of the public commentary that’s out there.”

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