Disney to Buy Marvel Comics for $4 Billion
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: August 31, 2009
The Walt Disney Company said Monday that it would buy the comic book giant Marvel Entertainment for about $4 billion.
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Under the terms of the deal, Marvel shareholders will receive a $30 a share in cash plus about 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. The boards of both companies have approved the deal, which was valued at $50 a share.
With the acquisition, Disney will acquire more than 5,000 Marvel characters, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and the X-men.
We believe that adding Marvel to Disneys unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation, the chief executive of Disney, Robert A. Iger, said in a statement.
Ike Perlmutter, Marvels chief executive, said: Disney is the perfect home for Marvels fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses. This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disneys tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.
Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disneys global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvels properties.
The acquisition comes as Disney, with its vast theme park operations and television advertising business, has been struggling because soft advertising sales at ABC and ESPN and drooping consumer spending at Disney World. Disneys profit in the third quarter dropped 26 percent.
Over all, Disneys net income fell to $954 million, or 51 cents a share, from $1.28 billion, or 66 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 7 percent, to $8.6 billion. Earnings per share for the current quarter included a one-cent restructuring charge related to an accounting gain. Excluding that charge, Disney narrowly beat Wall Streets expectations.
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