Disney to buy Marvel for $4 billion

http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/31/news/companies/disney_marvel/

Disney to buy Marvel for $4 billion
Walt Disney Co. will purchase the comic book company behind X-Men and Spider-Man, pending shareholder approval.
David Goldman, CNNMoney.com staff writer
August 31, 2009

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that it has agreed to purchase comic book and action hero company Marvel Entertainment for about $4 billion.

If Marvel shareholders approve the deal, they would receive $30 per share in cash and 0.745 shares of Disney for each share of Marvel that they hold.

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

Marvel has launched a large number of action-hero movies over the past decade, including last summer's Iron Man blockbuster, which was fully financed by by the comic book company. Marvel also holds the rights to popular action hero characters like Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Thor.

"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," said Marvel Chief Executive Ike Perlmutter. "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."

Shares of Marvel soared 27% in morning trading. Shares of Disney were flat.