Minnie Mouse during the new Magic Happens parade at Main Street USA at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, on Thursday, February 27, 2020.
Jeff Gritchen | Orange County Registry | Getty Images
Shares of Disney rose more than 6% in trading on Monday after California provided new guidelines allowing for the reopening of amusement parks in the state on April 1st.
The merger is expected to add more than $ 23 billion to Disney’s market cap, which will bring it to about $ 368 billion.
Disneyland and other California parks have been closed for about a year due to coronavirus-related restrictions, even as other states, such as Florida, have allowed the reopening of parks with limited capacity. Disney has not yet provided a reopening date for its California parks, but Disney and other theme park owners, including owner of Universal Studios NBCUniversal, have asked California officials to allow a limited reopening.
The new state guidance allows for the reopening of amusement parks from April 1 with a capacity of 15% to 35%, depending on the prevalence of the virus in the community. Masks and other health precautions will be required.
The shutdown led Disney to lay off tens of thousands of workers and cut a major source of revenue for the media company. Disney said its parks and experiences sector experienced a 53% drop in revenue in the December quarter compared to last year, with $ 3.58 million. Disney said coronavirus-related closures cost the division lost $ 2.6 billion in operating revenue during the quarter.
Officials are increasingly optimistic about a return to normalcy as more people are vaccinated against Covid-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that people who have been completely vaccinated can gather safely indoors without masks. Although its California parks have been closed to visitors, Disneyland recently began helping the public health effort by serving as a vaccination site for state residents.
In addition to the new theme park, Disney could also win in its film business. More theaters have opened in North America, and 45% of theaters in the region opened last weekend, compared to 42% the previous weekend, according to Comscore.
The move came on a mixed day for markets, with many tech and social media companies falling while some traditional media companies concentrated. For example, ViacomCBS shares rose up 8% and Discovery shares rose more than 2%.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of Universal Studios and CNBC.
– CNBC Sarah Whitten has contributed to this report.
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