As mentioned by a new report from Citi analysts, President Donald Trump’s corporate tax cut has increased the likelihood of a Netflix buyout from Apple.
This was more easily explained by Business Insider, who explains that the tax cut will come “along with a one-time allowance for companies to repatriate cash stored overseas without worrisome hits”. This would allow Apple with enough money to purchase Netflix. In fact, Apple would only need “a third” of their $252 billion, most of which is stored under foreign jurisdiction.
According to Citi analysts:
“The firm has too much cash – nearly $250 billion – growing at $50 billion a year. This is a good problem to have. Historically, Apple has avoided repatriating cash to the US to avoid high taxation. As such, tax reform may allow Apple to put this cash to use. With over 90% of its cash sitting overseas, a one-time 10% repatriation tax would give Apple $220 billion for M&A or buybacks.”
Talks of Apple buying Netflix have gone off and on for over a year now, but with this tax cut it’s likelier than ever. And now that Disney has actually managed to buy Fox, I’m convinced anything could happen. In fact, it’s now up to 40%, so we shouldn’t be too surprise if it does end up happening.
After all, it would allow Apple an all-new way of expanding its reach past iTunes. And if that were the case, it would be interesting to see what Apple would do with all of Netflix’s original programming – and what types of programming it would continue to launch as time goes on. Whatever the case may be, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. The two have yet to go into any official talks, and a business deal of that magnitude would take some time to settle on an agreement. And even then, it would probably take awhile before everything was legally finalized – even the Disney/Fox buyout is going to take some time before everything is legal and ready to go.
How do you feel about Apple potentially buying Netflix? Do you want to see it happen or are you worried about what it could potentially mean? Let us know in the comments section down below!