Variety - Disney/Pixar deal imminent

[tjkraz]

From Sunday's Daily Variety:

"As far as a new Disney-Pixar deal goes, most insiders agree the question is no longer 'Will they?' but 'When will they?' Though both sides remain tightlipped, most insiders are confident that Disney and Pixar are on the verge of renewing their distribution pact."

Full article:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117935171?categoryid=1050&cs=1&s=h&p=0

[Rozzie]

thanks for the link. I have been following this, hoping something would come of it. :)

[KNWVIKING]

Still betting Disney sells off the radio stations and uses the cash to buy Pixar.

[tjkraz]

Still betting Disney sells off the radio stations and uses the cash to buy Pixar.

Could be. Of course that leads me to wonder which approach would be better for Disney in the long run:

1. New distribution deal--less revenue for TWDC but Pixar's management structure remains in place.

2. Buy Pixar--big up-front expenditure, more revenue for TWDC, Disney assumes managerial control of Pixar.

[KNWVIKING]

I see it playing out more with Lassiter and Jobs maintaining control of the entire FA department.

Any Pixar buyout would have to include keeping Lassiter happy. If he walks away then Disney just wasted about 5 billion bucks. If he stays, however, and is allowed to operate within Disney the way he did at an independant Pixar...... then the sky is the limit.

[tjkraz]

Any Pixar buyout would have to include keeping Lassiter happy. If he walks away then Disney just wasted about 5 billion bucks. If he stays, however, and is allowed to operate within Disney the way he did at an independant Pixar...... then the sky is the limit.

Agreed, but I'm not so sure about Jobs. Admittedly this is just my bias, but he doesn't impress me as someone that would willingly sell out to another entity and then be willing to stick around in a real long-term capacity. If he's willing to sell his shares to Disney, I'm guessing he would do it with the knowledge that the company will never have greater value and that it's time to move on to other things.

[KNWVIKING]

You're probably right tjk, but something about Jobs leads me think he really cares about HIS companies, similar to the way Walt did. Sure he'll follow the cash, but I think he enjoys very much when people know he's the man behind Ipod and Pixar. The last thing I think he'd want is to have Disney buy Pixar and run it into the ground for fear it would make him look bad.

[JimC]

Buying companies rarely achieves the benefits the acquisition was set out to accomplish. And in this case they would be buying back talent they previously lost.

But in my opinion Disney needs to get Pixar involved somehow. I have been umipressed with Disney's CA results. Eisner destroyed their animation capabilities. And what they have been producing is no where near the level of their old hand drawn or Pixar's CA movies.

[disneylogic]

here's another link (http://www.animated-news.com/archives/00004376.html) touting an acquisition rumor.

[tjkraz]

Thanks for the link!

(BTW, I had to edit the link just a bit to get it to work.)

Now this is starting to make some sense. Steve Jobs as a large shareholder and perhaps even chairman of Disney. That's a pairing that could set Wall Street on fire...and hopefully re-ignite (no pun intended) the company, too.

[ripleysmom]

They announced it today....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/disney_pixar

Disney to Acquire Pixar for $7.4 Billion By GARY GENTILE, AP Business Writer
7 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it is buying longtime partner Pixar Animation Studios Inc. for $7.4 billion in a deal that could restore Disney's clout in animation while vaulting Pixar CEO Steve Jobs into a powerful role at the media conglomerate.

Disney will buy the maker of the blockbuster films "Toy Story and "Finding Nemo" in an all-stock transaction that makes Jobs Disney's largest shareholder. Jobs, who controls more than half of Pixar's stock and also heads Apple Computer Inc., will also join Disney's board.

Disney has co-financed and distributed Pixar's animated films for the past 12 years, splitting the profits. But that deal expires in June after Pixar delivers "Cars."

Disney and Pixar have been talking for months about a new relationship.

Pixar Executive Vice President John Lasseter will be become chief creative officer of the animation studios and principal creative adviser at Walt Disney Imagineering, which designs and builds the company's theme parks.

Pixar President Ed Catmull will serve as president of the new combined Pixar and Disney animation studios, reporting to Disney chief executive Robert Iger and Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios.