Billionaire Gabelli Bullish On Media Mergers in Wake of Trump Win, Thinks Apple (AAPL) Could Buy Disney (DIS), Netflix (NFLX)

GAMCO Investors is a Rye, New York-based hedge fund run by billionaire investor Mario Gabelli. Mr. Gabelli’s net worth stands at $1.53 billion according to the Forbes list of the world’s richest people. In a recent broadcast on CNBC, the billionaire investor, who bets heavily on media stocks, talked about the activity in the industry, especially after the victory of Donald Trump in the Presidential elections. He talked about CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS), Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB), Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX), AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and we’ll run through his thoughts in this article.

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The media industry is currently under a lot of speculation amid Donald Trump’s victory. Trump’s plan to “drain the swamp” and introduce radical new changes to media regulation has concerned investors and industry giants. Mr. Trump labeled Net Neutrality as an “attack” on conservative media, and pledged to put a “temporary moratorium” on new regulations. But Gabelli is bullish on the industry, and thinks there will be a lot of consolidation activity in the next six months, and that we can expect several new mergers and acquisitions.

CBS Should Buy Viacom

Mario Gabelli said that he expects a new FCC chairman who will want the free market to function smoothly. The billionaire added that Shari Redstone, vice chairman of CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) and Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB), is a competent and practical person and that she did the “right thing” by starting at NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS, INC. and working her way down to media companies like CBS and Viacom. Gabelli said that the new interim CEO of Viacom, Thomas E. Dooley, has done a good job and increased the company’s footprint in emerging markets. Gabelli prefers CBS buying Viacom because he thinks Leslie Moonves is the right man to control the new company. Gabelli thinks Moonves is energetic, has good people skills, and understands the dynamics of the market. He added that Viacom has a strong global footprint, a factor which CBS lacks. At the end of the third quarter, Gabelli’s hedge fund reported ownership of 3.12 million shares of Viacom.

On the next page, we’ll discuss what Gabelli said about several other mergers or possible mergers, involving Apple, Disney, Netflix, and others.

No Threat to Time Warner, AT&T Deal

Mario Gabelli thinks there are no threats to the Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) deal under Donald Trump’s presidency, despite the Don’s open vows to kill the $85 million merger of the two companies, saying the deal would “concentrate power in the hands of too few.” Regardless, Gabelli thinks that the FCC will not “look into” this merger. He said the probability of the deal going through is now 70%, up from his previous estimate of 40%. Gabelli thinks the deal will withstand scrutiny from shareholders and that they should be able to decide whether to accept or deny the merger.

Apple Should Buy Disney and Netflix

Gabelli thinks that in order to increase consumer connection, Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) could buy Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), and/or Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) could buy both companies. He thinks major activity is expected in the media industry in the next six months. He wants media companies to own and distribute content and increase connectivity on a global scale. Gabelli insisted that we should stop limiting our focus on just the U.S audience, and understand that there are billions of people in the world with mobile devices, which are hungry for content.

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