Disney Board approves $7B Pixar offer

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
The Walt Disney Company is planning to announce as early as Tuesday the acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios in a stock transaction valued at about $7 billion, people briefed on the negotiations told the New York Times on Monday.



According to the report, Disney's board voted to give chief executive, Robert A. Iger, the authority to offer Apple and Pixar chief, Steven Jobs, about $59 a share for the company, these people said. The price would be at a slight premium over Monday's closing of $58.27 a share, which gave Pixar a market value of about $6.93 billion.



"Disney's negotiators were then expected to approach their counterparts at Pixar to reach a price, and Pixar's board could vote on the deal soon after that," said the Times. However, all of the people briefed on the negotiations cautioned that the deal could fall apart at any time. "This is tricky," one said. "All of the things have to be just right."



If the deal goes through, Pixar's chief creative officer and a former animator at Disney, John Lasseter, is expected to oversee the animation unit that would become part of Disney's filmed animation division. Jobs, meanwhile, would be given a seat on Disney's board.



It's also possible the deal would make Jobs the largest share holder of Disney stock.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 36
    markivmarkiv Posts: 180member
    In other words Steve would be taking over Disney rather than Disney taking over Pixar.
  • Reply 2 of 36
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by AppleInsider

    According to the report, Disney's board voted to give chief executive, Robert A. Iger, the authority to offer Apple and Pixar chief, Steven Jobs, about $59 a share for the company, these people said. The price would be at a slight premium over Monday's closing of $58.27 a share, which gave Pixar a market value of about $6.93 billion.



    As someone said in a different thread, this would be a pretty crap deal for Pixar's shareholders. Wouldn't a bid such as this normally offer somewhat more than the company's share price? I suppose jobs is the 51% owner of pixar though, so whatever he says goes? So he may think that the meagre offer in monetary terms is worth it considering he would get a seat on Disney's board?
  • Reply 3 of 36
    Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?



    S-T-E-V-E J-O-B-S!
  • Reply 4 of 36
    markivmarkiv Posts: 180member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mr. H

    As someone said in a different thread, this would be a pretty crap deal for Pixar's shareholders. Wouldn't a bid such as this normally offer somewhat more than the company's share price? I suppose jobs is the 51% owner of pixar though, so whatever he says goes? So he may think that the meagre offer in monetary terms is worth it considering he would get a seat on Disney's board?



    I think Jobs would have around 14%-15% of total shares hence making him the single largest share holder in the merger (taking over) of Pixar and Disney.
  • Reply 5 of 36
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by markiv

    I think Jobs would have around 14%-15% of total shares hence making him the single largest share holder in the merger (taking over) of Pixar and Disney.



    Combined market cap would be 57 Billion, with steve owning 3.5 billion worth (about 6.1%).
  • Reply 6 of 36
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    It looks like the share holders are not making a lot from it (the offer for the shares are just an inch above marked value) and Steve would have been able to become a member of the board of Disney without holding 10-20% of the shares. ANd I can´t imagine that Steve "I want to be in control of EVERYTHING" Jobs really like to give away control over Pixar....



    Remember how this started: Steve and Eisner go at eachothers throaths, Pixar doesnt´renew their contract with Disney because of differences, Pixar goes looking for other distributer, can´t find anyone who can offer the same deal as Disney. Pixar returns to table with Disney.



    We all know that Disney are having problems of their own, but it was Pixar who returned and the low offer for Pixar shares could be a sign of who is wearing the pants in this deal...



    [EDIT: Member of board, not chairman of course...]
  • Reply 7 of 36
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by markiv

    In other words Steve would be taking over Disney rather than Disney taking over Pixar.



    No.
  • Reply 8 of 36
    frank_tfrank_t Posts: 428member
    Sad to see Steve sell out like this...Pixar would of been another Disney of the future yet the short term gain is all that is being looked at. Now the Disney name lives forever while the Pixar people keep it in business.....sad day indeed.



  • Reply 9 of 36
    mark2005mark2005 Posts: 1,158member
    In the same way that NeXT remade the OS and thus the Mac, I believe that Pixar will be given ample room to completely remake Disney animation. Iger has said animation is the heart of Disney, and a key to turning around the company. As Pixar's quality, processes, and technology get incorporated into Disney, many more Pixar-developed stories will be released as movies or shorts or TV shows, and these stories and characters will drive theme parks and other content distribution avenues (TV, cable, etc).



    What does Pixar get? If Lasseter is the head of animation, then it gets control back over sequels and its characters. And it gets the best tie-in merchandising (and increased brand awareness and mucho more profits). I think it's this last thing that drove SJ back to Disney as none of the other potential distributors could do it as well.
  • Reply 10 of 36
    The current price includes a run-up on rumors of the deal. Look at the price over the past 6 months - it has had a run-up. Disney will pay the fair market value for the company, but people have been expecting this action and hence bought up the stock, driving priuce higher. If no rumors had been swirling, the cuurent Pixr price would be quite a lot lower - July through October of last year, the stock was trading at around $45...





    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mr. H

    As someone said in a different thread, this would be a pretty crap deal for Pixar's shareholders. Wouldn't a bid such as this normally offer somewhat more than the company's share price? I suppose jobs is the 51% owner of pixar though, so whatever he says goes? So he may think that the meagre offer in monetary terms is worth it considering he would get a seat on Disney's board?



  • Reply 11 of 36
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Anders

    We all know that Disney are having problems of their own, but it was Pixar who returned and the low offer for Pixar shares could be a sign of who is wearing the pants in this deal...



    You'll probably see the shareholders file a class-action lawsuit for failing to get the best price on the sale of Pixar. Always happens.
  • Reply 12 of 36
    Soon this place will be known as SteveInsider.
  • Reply 13 of 36
    jamiljamil Posts: 210member
    I think this would be a sad deal. There is every chance that Disney will try to inject their culture into pixar and that will be the death of the refreshing creativity and story telling that we have come to expect from Pixar.



    Only if Disney allows their animation division to run idependently from Disney culture will the Pixar Employees thrive and the hits will keep on coming.
  • Reply 14 of 36
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Jamil

    I think this would be a sad deal. There is every chance that Disney will try to inject their culture into pixar and that will be the death of the refreshing creativity and story telling that we have come to expect from Pixar.



    Only if Disney allows their animation division to run idependently from Disney culture will the Pixar Employees thrive and the hits will keep on coming.






    On the other hand, maybe people will soon be taking their kids to Pixarland in Anaheim... the happiest place in the Reality Distortion Field!
  • Reply 15 of 36
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by markiv

    In other words Steve would be taking over Disney rather than Disney taking over Pixar.



    No.
  • Reply 16 of 36
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ebolagp

    The current price includes a run-up on rumors of the deal. Look at the price over the past 6 months - it has had a run-up. Disney will pay the fair market value for the company, but people have been expecting this action and hence bought up the stock, driving priuce higher. If no rumors had been swirling, the cuurent Pixr price would be quite a lot lower - July through October of last year, the stock was trading at around $45...



    Yes. The price already includes the mark-up from the expected sale.
  • Reply 17 of 36
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by e1618978

    Combined market cap would be 57 Billion, with steve owning 3.5 billion worth (about 6.1%).



    Correct. I wish people would get the most basic information right before posting.
  • Reply 18 of 36
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by SpamSandwich

    You'll probably see the shareholders file a class-action lawsuit for failing to get the best price on the sale of Pixar. Always happens.



    No. They got a good deal.
  • Reply 19 of 36
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    I'm just concerned about the conflicts of interest that are now there. This is going to be very difficult for both Disney and Apple.



    Jobs will have to recuse himself from many decisions being discussed, and made, at both companies.



    As the article in the Times the other day said; Jobs spent vastly more time at Apple than he did at Pixar, because he didn't need to involve himself at Pixar, and the two companies didn't have too many areas of congruence. This isn't the case with Disney.
  • Reply 20 of 36
    gene cleangene clean Posts: 3,481member
    ^ How's about using 1 post to refer to different people and not post 5 times in a row?
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