Disney to buy Marvel in $4bn deal

[Mathew]

Entertainment giant Walt Disney is to buy Marvel Entertainment in a shares and cash deal valued at $4bn (£2.5bn).

The deal means Disney will take over ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters, such as Spider-Man and the X-Men.

Marvel shareholders will get $30 per share in cash plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share owned.

The boards of Disney and Marvel have both approved the deal, which now needs the backing of Marvel shareholders and competition authorities.

Marvel shares were ahead $10.17, or 26%, to $48.82 shortly after the market opened. Disney shares fell 47 cents, or 1.8%, to $26.37.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8230504.stm

Remember Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios (Hollywood) both have Spiderman related attractions and all parks feature Marvel's characters. Wonder if they saw this coming..

[lick]

I never heard of Marvel, i always though Universal Studios owned Spider Man and x men

[Stefy09]

wth thinking of disney owning spiderman and x-men makes spiderman and x-men seem like kids films

[lick]

I think they are trying to get more males to like disney other than teen girls who love Miley and Jonas Bros

[Fez]

I think they are trying to get more males to like disney other than teen girls who love Miley and Jonas Bros

I don't think males will like Disney, they'll like Marvel, I doubt they'd start publishing under the Disney name.

It'll be interesting to see where this goes.

[Mathew]

My guess is that Disney have noticed their comic sales go down. Think about it - when was the last time you or younger brothers bought a Disney magazine?

With 5,000 Marvel characters, Disney basically have everything they need to make a lot of money. Whether they make more than $4bn is another story..

[e5]

I never heard of Marvel, i always though Universal Studios owned Spider Man and x men

lol you've never heard of marvel:S? hahaa.

[Describe]

My guess is that Disney have noticed their comic sales go down. Think about it - when was the last time you or younger brothers bought a Disney magazine?

With 5,000 Marvel characters, Disney basically have everything they need to make a lot of money. Whether they make more than $4bn is another story..

I doubt the magazines are as popular in Britain as they are in the U.S.A.

[luce]

I never heard of Marvel, i always though Universal Studios owned Spider Man and x men

same i went there in easter and i thought all the characters you saw were owned by universal?? Be interesting to see what happens if im honest because they could make a lot of money or just fail epically. I will never think of spiderman as a disney character like pluto though :S

[Alkaz]

I only know some of the most popular marvel comic characters because of my older brothers who are like 20-25, if they werent here then I wouldnt have and just thought it was marvel. But, even still, I have heard of marvel lol.