Disney to buy Marvel for $4B

[Pixelteddy]

I found this ironic

[Snoopy]

It's a done deal.

NEW YORK – The Walt Disney Co. completed its $4.24 billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment Inc. on Thursday, bringing Spider-Man, Iron Man and 5,000 other characters under the same roof as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

Marvel shareholders approved the acquisition earlier Thursday as expected. Marvel Chief Executive Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter, who owned 37 percent of Marvel stock, supported it. He will oversee the Marvel business and report to Disney CEO Robert Iger. Iger said the deal can help Disney grow revenue and profits, saying in a statement, "the creative and business potential of this combination is substantial."

Marvel shareholders received $30 per share in cash, plus 0.7452 Disney shares for every Marvel share they owned. Disney shares closed Thursday at $32.25. That valued Marvel shares at $54.03 each, and put the purchase price at $4.24 billion. The deal is Disney's largest since it bought Pixar Animation Studios Inc., the maker of "Up" and "Cars," for $7.4 billion in stock in 2006.

Separately, POW! Entertainment Inc., a company led by Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee, said it expanded a three-year relationship with Disney by giving Disney greater rights to its creative output and exclusive consulting services. Disney, based in Burbank, Calif., will take a 10 percent stake in POW! for $2.5 million, it said. Walt Disney Studios' president of worldwide distribution, Bob Chapek, said it made sense to extend the relationship with the company partly because of Lee's "knowledge and familiarity of the Marvel Universe."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100101/..._entertainment

[dlfreak]

Oooh beat me to it! I'm still not seeing how this will be lucrative for Disney. Hmm...

[daMOUSE]

Oooh beat me to it! I'm still not seeing how this will be lucrative for Disney. Hmm...

It's all about claiming a stake in a demographic that they have had trouble growing in the past.

[cardboardroom]

Oooh beat me to it! I'm still not seeing how this will be lucrative for Disney. Hmm...

I'd say Marvel Studios' film franchises alone are pretty lucrative.

[dlfreak]

But Disney gets no stake in existing franchise properties, wasn't that one of the conditions? Who else is left?

[cardboardroom]

But Disney gets no stake in existing franchise properties, wasn't that one of the conditions? Who else is left?

The condition was that Disney would uphold the current distribution agreements. For example, Paramount will still distribute Iron Man 2. I don't see how Disney would not be able to profit off of the film, considering the production company, Marvel Studios, is a Disney subsidiary.

[dlfreak]

Right but what do they have up their sleeves, though... I mean they didn't drop down four billion dollars to get a slice of profits of Iron Man 2. Most of the good franchises are already really successful movies... what are they going to do remake the Hulk a third time?

[daMOUSE]

It has been said that Bob Iger has been studying the Marvel Encyclopedia the last few months in order to find potential franchises from lesser known characters.

[Snoopy]

Interesting article by Jim Hill today about Stan Lee and his new role in the merger:

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hi...y-company.aspx