Disney just tied the bow on their biggest present of the year, finalizing their purchase of Lucasfilm and Star Wars to the tune of $4.06 billion worth of assets. At the closing today, Disney shares were priced at $50 a pop after the merger that was originally announced on October 30th. Easily the biggest news in the entertainment industry this year, Disney’s announcement of a new sequel trilogy of films has sparked an incredible amount of interest in what will be a developing story over the next several years. Be sure to get caught up on our extensive Star Wars coverage here. Hit the jump to read the press release.
Check out the full press release below:
BURBANK, Calif., December 21, 2012 – Continuing its strategy of delivering exceptional creative content to audiences around the world, Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) announced today that Disney has completed its acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Lucasfilm to the Disney family,” said Iger. “Star Wars is one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time and this transaction combines that world class content with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets, which we believe will generate growth as well as significant long-term value.”
Under the terms of the merger agreement, at closing Disney issued 37,076,679 shares and made a cash payment of $2,208,199,950. Based upon the closing price of Disney shares on December 21, 2012 at $50.00, the transaction has a total value of approximately $4.06 billion.
Lucasfilm’s assets include its massively popular Star Wars franchise, operating businesses in live action film production, consumer products, animation, visual effects, and audio post production, as well as a substantial portfolio of cutting-edge entertainment technologies. It operates under the names Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound.
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Now with George Lucas out of the decision-making loop permanently, here’s to 20th Century Fox – who retain rights to all six ‘Star Wars’ films until 2020 – hiring the film restoration expert Robert A. Harris to fully restore the original Trilogy’s theatrical versions to beautiful 4k presentations the way he did with ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Godfather Part II’… Harris offered his services to Lucasfilm a few years ago and was rebuffed by George Lucas, it’s now high time they took him up on that offer so we can all get the Trilogy onto DVD and Blu-Ray the way it should always have been; as they were seen in cinemas in 1977/80/83.
I for one welcome our Disney overlords. Now, hopefully, they’ll consider releasing the original trilogy on Blu-Ray, and I’m not talking about Lucas’s jacked up versions.
Fine it is out of Lucas’s hands but now it is in Disney’s which may not bode well. It is Disney after all so I’m fearful that we will get a watered down, mass appeal continuation of Star Wars. Hope not.