Would Apple buy Disney? Cash stash makes it doable

As Apple’s stash of cash grows, so does the possibility that the world’s most valuable company will use some of the money for a huge acquisition that would expand its empire beyond iPhones and other gadgets.

The company currently holds more than a quarter-trillion dollars it could use to go shopping. So far, the guessing game has primarily focused on possible targets such as Netflix and Tesla Motors.

Either deal could make sense, given Apple’s long-running interest in providing a TV service to consumers and its more recent work on self-driving cars.

But in recent months the takeover talk has swirled around whether Apple might do something even more dramatic by making a bid for Walt Disney Co.

Such a combination would create the world’s first company worth $1 trillion. Beyond that, an Apple-Disney marriage would unite some of the world’s most successful brands in technology and entertainment — a list that includes the iPhone, iPad, Mac computer, Mickey Mouse, Disneyland, ESPN, Lucasfilm, Pixar and Marvel.

“If there’s a deal out there that would strike fear in the hearts of Silicon Valley and Hollywood, this could be it,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Amit Daryanani wrote in a recent research report assessing the logic of an Apple-Disney combination.

Apple doesn’t discuss specific companies that it might buy, but it’s exploring far and wide, according to Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri. “We are looking at every size of acquisition, so we will see how it goes going forward,” Maestri told The Associated Press.

Disney hasn’t given any inclination that it’s looking for a buyer, but publicly held companies are required to consider all takeover offers. Buying Disney would be expensive. Daryanani estimates that Apple would have to pay $157 per share, or about $250 billion.

Apple is one of the few companies — if not the only one — that could pay that sum out of its pocket. The Cupertino, Calif., company ended March with nearly $257 billion in cash and marketable securities, according to numbers released Tuesday with Apple’s earnings report for the January-March quarter.

That’s up from $233 billion a year ago, and the figure is expected to keep growing as Apple piles up more profits from the iPhone, iPad and Mac, as well as the applications and services that feed those devices. In its latest quarter, Apple’s earnings climbed 5 percent to $11 billion while revenue also rose 5 percent to nearly $53 billion.

In recent years, Apple has used a large chunk of its cash to provide its shareholders with extra income. appetite also was restored, an important development for patients undergoing nausea-inducing chemotherapy.

“I didn’t reach for my opiods,” she said. “I never touched them while I was there” in Colorado

Other supporters preparing to testify included members of the group Mothers Advocating Medical Marijuana for Autism, as well as a number of health professionals who contend it is a useful treatment for many ailments, with fewer side effects than conventional medications.

Two years ago, Texas lawmakers approved what’s known as the Compassionate Use Act, legalizing oils made from cannabidiol for medical purposes. Cannabidiol, commonly called CBD, is found in marijuana plants but doesn’t produce euphoria or a high.

However, that law has yet to have any impact because the first Texas CBD dispensaries haven’t been fully licensed. It also restricts the compound’s use to certain patients suffering from a rare form of epilepsy, and only after they’ve first tried two conventional drugs that prove to be ineffective. Many advocates for medical marijuana have said the Compassionate Use Act is so restrictive it’s useless for many people.

HB 2107 would legalize medical use of all parts of the marijuana plant — including tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which induces a high for users — for any doctor-corroborated debilitating health condition, such as cancer, chronic pain, autism or post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I could eliminate so many (prescription) drugs and be pain free and sleep, and not have so much anxiety — if I had access to this in Texas,” said Mary Kate Bennett, 60, who said she suffers incapacitating pain from nerve damage suffered during a knee operation more than a decade ago.

Just getting a hearing on HB 2107 constitutes a small victory for medical marijuana advocates. Last week, they rallied in front of the Capitol to pressure lawmakers into holding a hearing on HB 2107 and a companion bill in the Senate, SB 269, both of which have spent weeks languishing in committees with no action.

Garnering a hearing is an initial step if a bill is to gain traction and have a chance of advancing in the Legislature.

“We can’t really tolerate indecision from our legislators anymore,” said Heather Fazio, Texas political director for the Marijuana Policy Project, a national nonprofit focused on reforming marijuana laws. “All of these people here who can benefit from this don’t have time to wait.”

State Rep. Four Price, R-Amarillo, chairs the House Public Health Committee and called the hearing on HB 2107 in the wake of last week’s rally. State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, has yet to call a hearing on SB 269, which is in his committee.

Separately, the Texas Department of Public Safety announced this week that it has “conditionally approved” three companies — Cansortium Texas, Compassionate Cultivation and Surterra Texas — as the first CBD dispensaries in the state under the Compassionate Use Act, out of 43 applicants. The agency now has until Sept. 1 to conduct on-site inspections of their facilities and “determine whether these three applicants will be issued dispensing organization licenses,” it said.