Why Cash on Hand Is King for Major Hollywood Companies Hoping to Weather the Coronavirus Storm

Hollywood is in preservation mode as major media and entertainment companies scramble for cash injections, refinancing and cost-cutting all in attempts of weathering the financial impacts of the increasing spread of the novel coronavirus. On Friday, ViacomCBS announced it planned to raise $2.5 billion in funds through a new debt offering, and vowed to offset expected revenue losses through cost-saving initiatives. That move has become popular among Hollywood’s heavy hitters with the means to do so. Earlier this week, Comcast raised $4 billion through a debt offering, saying that it expected “the impact of COVID-19 could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations over the near-to-medium term.” And Disney last week raised $6 billion in a debt offering a day after alerting shareholders that it expects the coronavirus to have a significant impact on its business in a number of ways. “Companies in all industries, not just entertainment, are eager to have cash on hand right now,” Jon Giegengack, principal analyst with Hub Entertainment Research, said. “So you see lots of companies drawing on credit lines or taking advantage of historically low interest rates to raise money.” Also Read: ViacomCBS Raises $2.5 Billion in New Debt Offering...

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