Disney buys Marvel for $4 billion

Walt Disney Co., gets Spiderman along with 5,000 other Marvel characters to add to its collection

Walt Disney can now add Spiderman to its line up of classic characters.  The media giant announced it has agreed to purchase Marvel Comics for approximately $4 billion in cash and stock.  Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately .745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own.

Based on the closing price of Disney on August 28, 2009, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion.

In terms of content, Disney will acquire more than 5,000 Marvel characters, some of those which we all are quite familiar with, including Iron Man, X-Men, Spiderman and the Fantastic Four, all of which have been made into major Hollywood movies in the past several years.  

This deal is likely to help Disney gain access to the demographic of young males that are fans of these characters.  A slight contrast to its female demographic of Hannah Montana and Jonas brothers fans.

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

Marvel's CEO, Ike Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties and work with Disney to build and further integrate them.  Perlumetter stated this would be an opportunity for Marvel to, "build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney's tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world."