When Disney made its deal for Dreamworks that would give it a few releases a year, you had to wonder if they were done. We did. We looked at their portfolio. Pixar…Dreamworks…the TV Networks are doing nicely, they got rid of the radio network…what’s left to fix at the House of Mouse? Ah, yes, the PARKS! One glaring issue in the Disney portfolio was the parks division. If you have kids, and have taken them to Disney recently, you know that getting today’s kids to relate to Mickey and the classic characters is challenging at best.
Disney apparently agrees. The latest addition to the House of Mouse?
How about The House Of Ideas!
Today they have announced that, pending an antitrust review, Disney will be buying Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock. A long way from the Toy Biz deal in 1990, huh?
Now, we know you’ve heard this story from the movies perspective all day. And it’s been fun to speculate. But Sony’s not giving up the rights to the Spider-Man movies any time soon. In fact, this may mean that the Avengers movie may be hella delayed. Here’s where this REALLY benefits Disney…in their parks department.
“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.”
- Robert A. Iger, Disney CEO
Excelsior!
Over the past few years, we’ve seen the parks try everything to get families to come back to the park. They’ve done special pricing deals for families. They’ve partnered with Steve Harvey. Up until recently, the Tom Joyner Family Reunion was held at Walt Disney World. Is any of that really enough to bring families to the park in Orlando…especially when right down the road, there’s Universal, with a bunch of Marvel characters? Which would your 8-year-old rather spend a 90 degree day doing, listening to “It’s A Small World” or taking a picture with Iron Man?
This is a really wise move for Disney, and by the way? If you had shares of Marvel stock? NICE for you too. Under the terms of the deal, Marvel shareholders would receive $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, that’s $50 per Marvel share in total. 4 Billion dollars. and the next time you hear someone tell their child that drawing pictures is not a career choice, please forward them this article.
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