people should actually read the content first before making up there minds.
from page one
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/disney-to-acquire-marvel-entertainment-2009-08-31-9050
original statement official, with no newscastings involved
http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.9360.Disney_to_Acquire_Marvel_Entertainment
@ marvel sold cheap, and why...
(more worthwhile reading in this link as well)
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/media/disney-acquire-marvel-entertainment-b/
For Marvel, Disney's purchase culminates what's been a ten-year turnaround process for the company. Marvel shares are up more than 1400% from 1999, compared to a 23% decline in the S&P 500. However, investors said that Marvel has reached a point where the company could not grow any more.
"Marvel is getting out right at the right time," said Dan Shaffer. It would be tough for them to grow without a Disney-like distribution system."
@ Disney makes changes to Marvel....
The purchase of Marvel marks one of Disney’s largest acquisitions in recent years, surpassed only by the purchase of Pixar in 2006. It gives Disney access to the intellectual property that attracts a primarily male audience, something Disney with its "Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical" franchises, has struggled with in recent years. Disney recently launched a cable channel aimed more at boys called Disney XD.
However, as part of the transaction, Disney will be working directly with some of the company's biggest rival movie houses like Sony Pictures ( SNE : 26.38, 0, 0%), Twentieth Century Fox ( NWS : 12.28, 0, 0%), and Viacom's Paramount Studios ( VIA : 25.63, 0, 0%). Before this transaction, Marvel signed distribution deals with those movie houses. Sony Pictures owns the rights to the Spiderman franchise, while Fox has the rights to X-Men.
Disney said it would honor those distribution deal until they expires. Iger, in a call with investors, said that it would be "in our best interests to be the sole distributor of the content" afterward.
and importantly
Disney executives went to great lengths during the call to make the point that they don’t pretend to be more expert than Marvel is in handling their characters, citing the hands-off relationship Disney has had with Pixar since the acquisition of that studio. Disney said Marvel manages the properties from a business perspective very intelligently and trusts them to make the right decisions for these products for a long time to come.
an opinion from elsewhere
I highly doubt that the Punisher will be taken out of the Marvel universe and I don't think that Disney would really want to make the universe "kid-friendly". Disney acquired Marvel for the licensing. They wanted those characters and that merchandising/movie rights. That's where the money is at, as opposed to the actual comics. I think it's most likely that Disney will let Marvel continue as a subsidary of the company and that they won't change anything too drastically
Marvel wasnt technically "bought out". They were in on this and this arrangement was reached a long time ago, as the above statements help to clarify why. The stock transaction was the means to finalize the deal without interruption from other interested party's and competitors who might want to interfere, most notably 20th Century Fox, who has had many problems legal wise with
Marvel over the years, and stands to lose their agreement due to breach of contract. example (and defines the agreement)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1999_Feb_11/ai_53852572/?tag=content;col1
Marvel will remain a subsidiary company, meaning thy will be fully in charge of what they do, not Disney.
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