Fanboys the world over shudder as Disney snaps up Marvel Comics for $4bn

Spider-man, The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and Captain America may have some feel good adventures in their futures, as Disney has purchased Marvel Comics.

In a 60/40 cash/stock split, Disney will be acquiring the above characters as well as about 5,000 more. The deal is valued at +30% of Marvel stock, about $50 a share. Marvel shareholders will get $30 a share in cash plus about 0.7 Disney shares for each share of Marvel stock.

The deal sees Disney teamed up with three rival studios, as all existing deals in place with Marvel are not affected.

In a statement, CEOs for Disney and Marvel had this to say:

“We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation,” Mr. Iger (chief executive of Disney) said in a statement.

Mr. Perlmutter (chief executive of Marvel) said: “Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses.”

The deal is also expected to boost Disney’s profits in the current rough economic climate and bolster the brand’s foothold in the “boys” demographic. In addition to the great theme park opportunities presented by the union, Disney’s new channel Disney XD, aimed at boys in general as a foil to the Hannah Montana and “princesses” demographic, seems like an excellent place to interpret or revive Marvel characters.

[Source: New York Times]