The Walt Disney Company has agreed to buy independent entertainment company Marvel in a deal worth $4 billion, the two companies announced on Monday morning.
The acquisition ends a long dry spell on media deals in an economy that has seen shareholder value erode dramatically over the past year, and that has caused conventional wisdom to lean away from the bigger-is-better model.
But Marvel has become a hot property as the comic-based company - which was in bankruptcy a decade ago -- has seen one hit after another. Those have included the relaunching of the “Spider-Man” series and the phenomenal success of “Iron Man,” with the next in that series -- “Iron Man 2” --expected out next May. (See full list of Marvel releases. And Waxword: Bob Iger Can Go Home Laughing.)
The deal gives Disney access to popular characters and potentially more movies to carry through its distribution system, which has dialled back on its number of annual releases.
And it follows other major deals by Disney under the leadership of CEO Robert Iger (above), including the acquisition of Pixar in 2006 for $7 billion, and the alliance with DreamWorks this year, in which the studio beat out the favored Universal.
“Creativity, technology, global growth will all be better served by bringing Marvel into the fold,” said Disney CFO Tom Staggs on an analyst call on Monday morning.
Stan Lee agreed. The founder of POW! Entertainment and Chairman Emeritus of Marvel said, “I couldn’t be happier with this agreement. It’s great move for Disney, for Marvel and for my company. From every possible point of view, the merger of Disney and Marvel is a match made in heaven. This is a great day for the two companies and for the entertainment community as a whole.”
As news of the deal broke, several conglomerates, who have ties to Marvel, issued statements saying that their respective relationships are still in place.
From Universal: "Marvel Super Hero Island at Universal’s Islands of Adventure and the Marvel characters are an important part of the Universal Orlando experience. They will remain so. Our agreement with Marvel stands for as long as we follow the terms of our existing contract and for as long as we want there to be a Marvel Super Hero Island.
From Paramount: "Paramount Pictures has enjoyed a productive and fruitful relationship with Marvel Studios from the start of our distribution agreement in 2005. So much so, we announced a five-picture slate distribution deal last year which includes worldwide distribution rights for upcoming films: ‘Iron Man 2,’ ‘Thor,’ ‘Captain America,’ ‘Avengers,’ and ‘Iron Man 3.’ This distribution deal will be unaffected by today’s transaction. We look forward to continuing to work with Marvel and, with today’s announcement, to working with Disney to replicate the incredible success of ‘Iron Man’ on all our future collaborative projects."
And Sony said that its deal for the motion picture rights to "Spider-Man" is unaffected and not subject to renewal.
