Walt Disney to Buy Marvel for $4 Billion

The Walt Disney Company announced on Monday that it will purchase Marvel Entertainment, Inc. for $4 billion. The blockbuster deal would add icons like Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four to the Disney brand.

The deal values Marvel at about $50 per share, a premium of 29 percent to Marvel Entertainment’s closing stock price of $38.65 on Friday afternoon. The deal has gotten the seal of approval from the boards of both entities.

Marvel’s shares rose by $48.70 in pre-market stock trading. Shares of Disney, which will end up acquiring ownership of more than 5,000 Marvel characters, dropped by around 3 percent in pre-market trade.

Marvel shareholders will get about $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own.

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

“We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”

Marvel chief executive Ike Perlmutter said this about the deal:

“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses. 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.”