Disney/Marvel

[Moefiz]

Disney to Buy Marvel Entertainment for $4 Billion
August 31, 2009, 9:27 am

The Walt Disney Company said on Monday that it has agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment, bringing together the house of Mickey Mouse with the publisher of Spider-Man, for $4 billion in cash and stock.

Under the terms of the deal, Disney will pay $30 a share in cash and .745 Disney shares for every Marvel share, with no less than 40 percent of the deal being made in stock. Disney valued the deal at $50 a share as of the companies’ share prices on Friday.

Isaac Perlmutter, Marvel’s chief executive, will continue to oversee his company’s properties, including more than 5,000 characters that also include Iron Man and the X-Men.

Marvel has had a string of successful movies based on its characters, which analysts have praised in part for the company’s taking an active role in their production.

“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,” Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said in a statement.

“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses,” Mr. Perlmutter said.

Marvel was advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch...

Don't know if this is such a good ideal...

Could be great in some cases...

[bandit29]

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co. said it agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment Inc. for about $4 billion in a stock and cash transaction, gaining comic-book characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man and Captain America.

Marvel shareholders will receive $30 a share in cash plus 0.745 Disney shares, the companies said today in a statement distributed by Business Wire.

Disney is buying the company, also the owner of the X-Men series, after films based on Marvel characters set box-office records. The deal gives Disney ownership of more than 5,000 Marvel characters.

Disney fell 84 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $26 at 9:15 a.m. New York time, before U.S. exchanges opened. Marvel jumped 26 percent to $48.63.

(The companies will hold a conference call at 10:15 a.m. New York time today at http://corporate.disney.go.com/inves...entations.html.)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aE7Y3rcPbEaM

[opterasis]

Disney characters in the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3. Squenix will not be pleased!

[RiseDarthVader]

I don't know about this we could either get better movies or have everything milked the crap out of.

[Elandyll]

Just saw that on the news. I was like .. WTH ?

[Jimbo976]

Not sure if this is elsewhere on here already or not..

By David Goldman, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: August 31, 2009: 9:51 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that it has agreed to purchase comic book and action hero company Marvel Entertainment for about $4 billion.

If Marvel shareholders approve the deal, they would receive $30 per share in cash and 0.745 shares of Disney for each share of Marvel that they hold.

"We believe that adding Marvel to Disney's unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation," said Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger, in a statement.

Marvel has launched a large number of action-hero movies over the past decade, including last summer's Iron Man blockbuster, which was fully financed by by the comic book company. Marvel also holds the rights to popular action hero characters like Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Thor.

"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," said Marvel Chief Executive Ike Perlmutter. "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."

Shares of Marvel (MVL) soared 27% in morning trading. Shares of Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) were flat

http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/31/news...rvel/index.htm

[Blu-Benny]

wow!!!

[RBBrittain]

Could THIS be why Sony abandoned the "Spider-Man font" for the PS3 logo?

[toneloctr]

This could be great for Marvel, with Disney's willingness to throw out sequel after sequel we might be seeing numerous Marvel movie series now.

[P@t_Mtl]

Same thread as this

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...41#post2269141

[Sponge-worthy]

Marvel R.I.P.

[cflames89]

Pixar could make some mean Marvel animated movies.

[Darkhawk9587]

Not sure how I feel about this yet, but my gut feeling says this was a bad move.

[Neil_Luv's_BLU]

What becomes of the movie licensing for characters already established on the big screen?!?

I fear for Marvel's soul right now

[andyman1970]

So, am I the only one who thinks this is great news? I think we could see a new era and much needed improvements with the Marvel Universe movies. Maybe now we can get some good F4 and Ghost Rider movies.

[cflames89]

Originally Posted by Neil_Luv's_BLU

What becomes of the movie licensing for characters already established on the big screen?!?

I fear for Marvel's soul right now

Well, Disney has enough cash to buy back rights if they want.

[BlackMamba]

This is good for Disney. They own every key demographic now - young girls, teen girls, (now) young boys, (now) teen boys, and young men (with ESPN).

Kingdom Hearts with Marvel characters? Sephiroth vs. the X-Men?

[Neil_Luv's_BLU]

Originally Posted by andyman1970

So, am I the only one who thinks this is great news? I think we could see a new era and much needed improvements with the Marvel Universe movies. Maybe now we can get some good F4 and Ghost Rider movies.

You seriously believe that a change of studio will mean squat to the quality of a new F4 or GR movie?

Sorry to disappoint ya! It'll be the same jack asses getting the mythology all wrong in a writers room with Mickey and Pluto painted on the ceiling!

[Red Hood]

Originally Posted by andyman1970

So, am I the only one who thinks this is great news? I think we could see a new era and much needed improvements with the Marvel Universe movies. Maybe now we can get some good F4 and Ghost Rider movies.

How? Fox and Sony still have the rights to them even with this happening.

[Neil_Luv's_BLU]

Originally Posted by cflames89

Well, Disney has enough cash to buy back rights if they want.

Baloo hooking up with the Avengers!!! *Shudders*