DreamWorks Animation Is Bought by Comcast in $3.8 Billion Deal

Hollywood’s smallest publicly traded entertainment company, DreamWorks Animation, threw in the towel after a turbulent 12 years, agreeing to sell itself to Comcast’s sprawling NBCUniversal in a deal valued at a hefty $3.8 billion. The purchase means greater competition for the Walt Disney Company, the world’s largest entertainment company. NBCUniversal plans to use DreamWorks Animation properties, which include “Kung Fu Panda,” “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Shrek,” to bolster its fast-growing theme parks and move deeper into toys and children’s television. The deal will pay DreamWorks Animation shareholders $41 a share in cash, more than 50 percent over its closing price on April 26, when news of a possible deal emerged.

Jeffrey Katzenberg, the founding chief executive of the studio, who is expected to reap nearly $400 million from the deal, will become a consultant to NBCUniversal and serve as chairman of a new entity called DreamWorks New Media. Stephen B. Burke, NBCUniversal’s chief executive and senior vice president of Comcast, in a statement cited DreamWorks Animation’s “dynamic film brand and deep library of intellectual property” as reasons for the deal. “DreamWorks will help us grow our film, television, theme parks and consumer products businesses for years to come.” Burke said Chris Meledandri, the chief executive of Illumination, Universal’s animation division, would oversee the DreamWorks Animation business. Katzenberg’s new entity will be made up of assets like AwesomenessTV, a digital network and studio aimed primarily at teenage girls.