August 31, 2009
DISNEY TO ACQUIRE MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT
Worldwide leader in family entertainment agrees to acquire Marvel and its portfolio of over 5,000 characters
Acquisition highlights Disney's strategic focus on quality branded content, technological innovation and international expansion to build long-term shareholder value
Burbank, CA and New York, NY, August 31, 2009 —Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.
Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney on August 28, 2009, Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. At closing, the amount of cash and stock will be adjusted if necessary so that the total value of the Disney stock issued as merger consideration based on its trading value at that time is not less than 40% of the total merger consideration.
Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, August 28, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion.
"This transaction combines Marvel's strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney's creative skills, 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. "Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney."
"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," said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel's Chief Executive Officer. "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."
Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney's global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel's properties.
The Boards of Directors of Disney and Marvel have each approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, effectiveness of a registration statement with respect to Disney shares issued in the transaction and other customary closing conditions. The agreement will require the approval of Marvel shareholders. Marvel was advised on the transaction by BofA Merrill Lynch.
this is probably a good thing for their comic book line
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Now they will make all of my favorite comics obsolete with flimsy plots and bad storylines!
......oh, wait...
Studio making kids animations buys studio making comics and movies for manchildren.
Irrevelant for European monocle movie conessieurs. :tophat
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Now they will make all of my favorite comics obsolete with flimsy plots and bad storylines!
......oh, wait...
People are joking all over the net but it's not like Marvel hasn't been doing kiddy stuff for years. It just never sells!
What exactly is the big disparity between today's comic book industry and the comic book industry of 30 years ago? My dad used to be really big into comics in the 70s and 80s, and he still has tons of series wrapped up in storage, but he's totally indifferent to the stuff that's around today. I've never been a fan, so I always used to assume that he just grew out of it until I noticed that this sentiment seems to be virtually universal.this is probably a good thing for their comic book lineThis is pretty much true.
Well, they used to be part of everyday life. Every newstand sold them. Now you pretty much have to descend into nerd hell (specialty shops) to buy the things. There is still a shit-load of talent working on comics, especially with the draw of potentially creating something that could be turned into a big movie, but they're very badly marketed, on the whole. Manga proves that folks will buy fun comics in the right format for the right price...the industry just needs to catch up.
Darwyn Cooke said the other day: 'How do sell a million copies of Spider-man? A quarter a pop on iTunes.', which really struck a chord with me. I think he's bang on the money. Folks don't grow out of comics anymore than they grow out of games, cartoons or G.I. Joe. Adults will keep on buying the same stuff that excited them as kids, so long as it's of sufficient quality, in the right format, marketed right etc.
Someone with more energy or economic knowledge can work out the relative cost if they're interested, but 30 years or so ago comics were 35 cents and sold in every supermarket, convenience and liquor store. Yeah, in addition to being a taste thing it's a question of access, both in terms of availability and cost. Comic shops were not the only venue to grab the monthly single issues in.
Now those singles can really only be found in comic shops, and they run US$3~4 per issue.
With the sale of trade paperbacks in Barnes and Noble and Borders, comics get a new market, a new audience, but I bet there is a dangerous marketing gap between the sales of any given monthly single and whether or not the publisher will commit to at trade paperback edition. So there could be some comics which might have flourished with access to the audiences of an upscale bookseller, but instead tanked from bad single-issue sales before it got that chance.
BTW, didn't Sony announce that comics would be part of their PSN strategy for PS3 and PSP?
I don't know, man, I just can't see myself ever doing it. I know I'm veering off into silliness here, but I seriously think that the tactile qualities of holding a real book and being able to scan through the pages using your hands versus using an electronic device makes it a much more personal experience. It's like the difference between handwriting and typing.
Obviously there's no real drawback, and I'm sure there are plenty of consumers that absolutely love the idea, but I don't believe it will ever be as mainstream as digitizing music or film has the potential to be.
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We would all fucking buy that.