Walt Disney Is In Serious Talks To Acquire Pixar

[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Merissa Marr at merissa.marr@wsj.com and Nick Wingfield]
Walt Disney is in serious discussions to buy Pixar Animation Studios after months in which the two animation giants have been exploring ways to continue their lucrative partnership. In the deal under discussion, Disney would pay a nominal premium to Pixar's current market value of $6.7 billion in a stock transaction that would make Pixar Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs the largest individual shareholder in Disney. That would vault Mr. Jobs into an even more influential place in the media world, where he already holds tremendous sway as head of Apple Computer. Yesterday, Apple reported that net income nearly doubled in the latest quarter on huge demand for its iPod music players. An acquisition would give Pixar and Mr. Jobs a way to cash in on the company's unbroken run of blockbuster, computer-animated films. Mr. Jobs would likely join the Disney board. An acquisition also would give Disney greater access to a stable of new characters that could be leveraged across the Disney empire in the same way it built franchises around its own characters. It would also ensure that Pixar is involved in making sequels to its movies -- something Disney currently controls -- and give Disney access to cutting-edge technology.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113764205313450605.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
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