Aug. 31
The Walt Disney Company announced Monday it has agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment, the comics powerhouse behind Iron Man, X-Men, Spider-Man and thousands more, for about $4 billion in cash and stock purchases.
“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and … unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Robert A. Iger, president and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, in a statement. “We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”
Under the deal, Marvel shareholders will receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own.
The gives Disney more than 5,000 new characters to work with.
It also gives Marvel a cash influx.
“This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world,” said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s chief executive officer.
In 2006, Disney bought Pixar Animation Studios, the creator of “Toy Story” and “Cars,” for $7.4-billion.
Both companies’ boards of directors approved the deal, which is pending governmental antitrust review.
John Guilfoil is the editor-in-chief of Blast: Boston's Online Magazine. He can be reached at guilfoil.j@blastmagazine.com.
I love disney world I’m glad they made this move.
Eventhough the union of these 2 giants – Disney and Marvel looks a bit off , the fact is that the 2 would merge is purely business at this stage. Marvel would definetly do better inside Disney than outside . i read Here that one of the factors was also grabbing the young male attention which is overall lacking at Disney (with shows such as Hanna Montana & the Jonas brothers.