Aug
2009
The Walt Disney Company has agreed to purchase Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock.
Wow… just… wow. This is huge news in the entertainment industry, and just business in general. Here is the official announcement:
August 31, 2009
DISNEY TO ACQUIRE MARVEL ENTERTAINMENTBurbank, 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 just blows me away as someone who has been in and around the comic book industry for decades now. I remember when Marvel was trading below a dollar a share and it looked like the company was going to completely collapse. If anyone had ever told me this was coming, I would have laughed my behind off. (If I also had bought shares like I considered at one point, I would be dancing a jig right now…)
Marvel was truly on its last legs there for a while, and then thanks to some new owners coming in, the company turned around and started to grow like crazy. The core business is no longer the comic books, but that is still the base upon how all of the other properties grow. It is no exageration that Marvel has a stable of 5,000 characters, and what Disney can do with them could be massive. You thought the Marvel movies were doing well before? Just wait until you see what happens with them now that the Disney marketing machine will be behind them.
After the initial dust settles here, it will be interesting to see how things shake out.
- Will we see Marvel properties on TV? Disney owns a slew of television property, they could fill time slots until our eyes bleed.
- How will the theme parks settle out? Universal Studios currently features Marvel characters, so will they have to relinquish those licensing agreements, or will they now be paying a license fee to Disney? (something I am sure they will hate doing)
- Will all current movie plans stand as-is for now? I.E. will we still see the mondo Avengers movie that is being planned?
This is absolutely huge, and honestly somewhat difficult to wrap your brain around. The deal prett much came out of nowhere, and everyone seems to be going “wha…?” The concept of Disney owning characters like Wolverine and the Punisher IS highly amusing though…
I am sure this won’t be the last post you see on this.


I finally feel that my weight loss has settled, and I can officially tell you all that I have lost over 105 pounds.
So, when I got to the airport in St. Louis, I once again asked for an exit row, and not only did the seat belt work for me, I could tighten it. (the picture above is from my return flight, I forgot to take one on the way there as I kept falling asleep) My waist has gone from 60″ to 48″, and by golly I can fit in any airplane seat I want now!
Smaller week than the usual for me on the writing front. I had some computer problems while in Boston and had to sacrafice some slots to other writers. Next week will be back up to full speed.
Scattercast is 58… and I’m back from Boston!
It seems Houston, Texas schools wanted to make sure their students had heard of “sexting” by banning it.
So, I am back from my journey to Boston, and all I can say is… it wasn’t nearly long enough.
Classmates.com can burn in Hell for all I care at this point.
She was unmoved, and we ended our call.
I’ve always had an odd fascination with death, and more specifically famous deaths. No clue why, I just do. Typically I’m more interested in graves and stories that have to do with bizarre circumstances, famous murders, etc, but when The Diabolical Miss M offered me the chance to see the graves of famous people from the time of the Revolutionary War, who am I to say “no”? (besides, saying “no” to one of her suggestions might have her dumping me in to a pool of her sharks… they have frickin’ laser beams on their head!)







Yes folks, that is an actual picture of me in Boston. This photo is a rarity for two reasons: I can’t remember the last time I posted a picture of myself on this blog, and it is also serves as evidence of me being on vacation.
It was only a matter of time before Hollywood went to this property to give it the remake treatment.