Entertainment giant Walt Disney will buy computer animation studio Pixar in a $7.4 billion deal announced by the companies last night. Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs, chairman and chief executive at Pixar, will join Disney's board of directors under the blockbuster deal.
Burbank-based Disney agreed to acquire Pixar in an all-stock transaction expected to be completed by summer, Disney president Robert Iger said in a written release.
The famed Disney-Pixar relationship looked to be over when Jobs announced two years ago that his company would pull out of its distribution deal with Disney and seek a new partner. Jobs had reportedly demanded a greater share of the profits from the deal.
The tie-up has created a perfect record of six blockbuster hits out of six productions over the past decade, so Jobs' announcement sent Disney into a panic over the future of its own struggling animation unit.
Pixar produced major hits such as 'The Incredibles', 'Finding Nemo', 'A Bug's Life', 'Toy Story' and 'Toy Story 2'. 'Cars' which is to be released this year, had been scheduled to be the last film under the tie-up. Pixar employees have won 15 Academy Awards and the films have made nearly $3 billion at the box office.
'With this transaction, we welcome and embrace Pixar's unique culture, which for two decades, has fostered some of the most innovative and successful films in history,' Iger said in the statement.
'The addition of Pixar significantly enhances Disney animation, which is a critical engine for driving growth across our businesses.' Ed Catmull was designated president and John Lasseter as chief creative officer of a combined Pixar and Disney Animation Studios.
