Disney is buying Marvel Comics for 4 Billion Dollars.
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.
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 Disney’s 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, Marvel’s chief executive, said: “Disney is the perfect home for
Marvel’s 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
Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.”
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 acquisition comes as Disney, with its vast theme park operations and
television advertising business, has been struggling because of soft advertising
sales at ABC and ESPN and drooping consumer spending at theme parks. Disney’s
profit in the third quarter, which ended June 27, dropped 26 percent.
Over all, Disney’s 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 Street’s expectations.
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