Why Disney’s SEC Filings Show Two CIKs After the Fox Merger
Summary
The note explains why Walt Disney Company filings may appear under two different SEC Central Index Key identifiers. The question arises from searches showing older annual reports under one identifier and a later filing under another, creating uncertainty about whether the records reflect an error or a common filing pattern.
The answer attributes the change to the merger with Twenty-First Century Fox. A newly formed holding company, initially named TWDC Holdco 613 Corp., became the New Disney and had a distinct legal identity from the Old Disney entity, TWDC Enterprises 18 Corp. The separate CIK therefore reflects a corporate reorganization rather than simply a duplicate ticker record. The explanation is brief and focused on this transaction; it does not describe SEC identifier assignment rules generally or establish how often similar changes occur.
Key ideas
- A company’s filings can appear under different CIKs when its legal entity changes.
- The Disney identifiers in question are linked to the Fox merger and the formation of a new holding company.
- The new holding company was legally distinct from the prior Disney entity.
- A ticker symbol alone does not guarantee that filings belong to the same legal registrant over time.
Tags
Full text
# Can someone explain me why Disney has two different CIK's? # Can someone explain me why Disney has two different CIK's? Disney, Ticker : DIS is triggering me, it seems that is has two different CIK's If you search disney 10-K forms here: https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/srch-edgar?text=company-name%3D%28DISNEY%29+and+form-type%3D%2810-K%29&first=2010&last=2020 It shows: ``` 1000 Walt Disney Co [text] [html] 10-K 11/20/2019 35176390 1000 WALT DISNEY CO/ [text] [html] 10-K 11/21/2018 21378552 1000 WALT DISNEY CO/ [text] [html] 10-K 11/22/2017 21308524 1000 WALT DISNEY CO/ [text] [html] 10-K 11/23/2016 20038733 1000 WALT DISNEY CO/ [text] [html] 10-K 11/25/2015 21091177 1000 WALT DISNEY CO/ [text] [html] 10-K 11/19/2014 28627599 1000 WALT DISNEY CO/ [text] [html] 10-K 11/20/2013 27801338 1000 WALT DISNEY CO/ [text] [html] 10-K 11/21/2012 21073203 1000 WALT DISNEY CO/ [text] [html] 10-K 11/23/2011 20047963 1000 WALT DISNEY CO/ [text] [html] 10-K 11/24/2010 23318688 ``` Walt Disney Co -> CIK is 0001744489 , and seems to be the official one, but only contains 2019, 10-K WALT DISNEY CO/ -> CIK is 0001001039, and contains all other years 10-K. Why this company has two different CIK's? is it a bug on SEC or is something that happens often? ## Answer by chrisaycock (score 4, accepted) https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/55253 The merger of The Walt Disney Company and Twenty-First Century Fox led to a company temporarily called TWDC Holdco 613 Corp. This holding company is the New Disney; it's a distinct company from the Old Disney, aka TWDC Enterprises 18 Corp. Hence the new CIK.
Shown in full with attribution under the source's licence. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Stack Exchange)
This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.