00:57 Sep 01 2009
Times Read: 809
Best lawl of the week:
Disney to buy Marvel for $4 billion
Mickey and Donald, meet Spider-Man!
Disney is purchasing Marvel for $4 billion. Disney said Monday that it will acquire the superhero factory in a cash and stock transaction that values each share of Marvel at $50, a 29% premium to where the stock closed Friday.
Disney will discuss the proposed transaction, which still needs regulatory approval, later Monday, when the companies will detail the fallout -- if any -- the merger will have on several films that Marvel's own studio has in the works based on characters such as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America.
"We'll take a look and see, but the bottom line is we like what they've been doing so far," Disney CFO Tom Staggs told The Hollywood Reporter.
Disney said it will pay $30 in cash plus about three-quarters of a Disney share for each share of Marvel. The payment consideration will fluctuate depending on the price of Disney shares so that not less than 40% of the price tag will consist of Disney stock.
"Disney stock is attractively priced and that's why it's important to Marvel," said Staggs.
Disney acquires ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters to be overseen by Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter, who is charged with cherry-picking when and where they'll show up within Disney's vast empire, including online and in video games.
The move marks the second largest acquisition since Bob Iger replaced Michael Eisner as CEO of Disney and quickly purchased Pixar for $7 billion.
"We believe that adding Marvel to Disney's unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation," Iger said.
"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," Perlmutter said. "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."
In a conference call Monday morning, Iger said the deal should close by year's end.
He called the Marvel integration an opportunity similar to the $7 billion acquisition of Pixar a few years ago, saying the combined assets will be more valuable than its separate parts. And Iger pointed to the global and cross-platform appeal of Marvel's characters as key opportunities in his second-biggest acquisition at Disney that are even more important in "a world of increasing consumer choice."
Iger said though that longer-term Disney wants to be the exclusive distributor of Marvel films. While the company respects and will honor Marvel's third-party licensing deals with Paramount, Fox and Sony, "it clearly would be in our best interest if we ended up as the sole distributor," he said. "When you distribute your own films, the opportunity is even better."
The Paramount deal, for example, contemplates another five more pictures and will then be reviewed, Staggs said.
Asked about potential Pixar-Marvel synergies, Iger said Disney executives have had some conversations internally, and Pixar creative guru John Lasseter has met with Marvel folks as well. "The group got pretty excited pretty fast," Iger said, adding he expects exciting collaboration opportunities. "Sparks will fly," he said.
Staggs said the Marvel deal will dilute Disney's earnings in the mid-single-digit range in fiscal 2010. He projected it should add to earnings by fiscal 2012.
Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce called the deal a "good move" for Disney, even though it "should put some near-term risk arbitration pressure on it."
He pointed out that the Pixar acquisition a few years ago worked out well for Disney under Iger's leadership.
"Disney already knows how to monetize characters across multiple platforms, and now it has 5,000 (Marvel) characters to apply its success to," Joyce said. "It helps give Disney a new, rational area to expand its exposure to younger audiences, especially boys, in which Disney had lost some balance in recent years." Iger said more Marvel content will, for example, be seen on the boys-centric Disney XD channel.
Can be found here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3if39271c89709c28e51aaec2525f7793b
COMMENTS
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Vampirewitch39
01:24 Oct 01 2009
:( Wish you to feel better.