The Walt Disney Company announced this morning that it is making a bid for Marvel Entertainment worth about $4 billion. If the Marvel shareholders approve the deal, Disney would pay $30 per share in cash and 0.745 shares of Disney (DIS) for each share of Marvel (MVL) that they hold. That $50 per share is about 30% more than the price Marvel closed at on Friday ($38.65). Disney said it would issue about 59 million shares to cover the deal, but would then repurchase them in the year following.
Discussing the deal with CNN/Money.com, Disney CEO Robert Iger said “This is perfect from a strategic perspective. This treasure trove of over 5,000 characters offers Disney the ability to do what we do best.” On an investors’ conference call, Iger continued by saying the deal will let Disney sell Marvel’s catalog of characters and properties in different media and more markets. He gave as an example the fact that Disney’s Pixar animation division is excited by the opportunities the addition of Marvel may offer. Iger also noted that the deal will give Disney more “boy” content, to counterbalance their perceived “girl”-heavy lineup of princesses.
Marvel’s CEO Ike Perlmutter also seems happy with the offer, saying “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.”
Marvel still has film deals with Paramount, Sony, and Fox for future movies, including several more Spider-Man films. Marvel chairman Morton Handel said the company intends to honor its current contracts with those studios, even if the Disney deal is finalized before those contracts expire. Handel estimates Marvel has five more films scheduled to be distributed by Paramount. Marvel pays Paramount $20-60 million per movie in distribution fees.
[Edited 1 September: Publishers Weekly has more on the deal in this article.]