STEVE JOBS, the founder of Pixar, hinted last night that the computer animation studio’s influence at Disney will be felt right across the entertainment giant’s stable of businesses once the deal to join the two companies is complete.
Disney, the pioneer of the animated feature film, struck an historic deal to acquire Pixar, the creator of Toy Story, in an all-share deal worth $7.4 billion (£4.1 billion) after the stock market closed in New York.
The groundbreaking takeover not only fuses two of the most successful entertainment companies in the world but also catapults Mr Jobs, the founder and chief executive of Pixar who is also the head of Apple Computer, into one of the most powerful positions in Hollywood.
The deal, which is expected to be complete by June, when Pixar releases its next feature Cars, promises a wealth of innovation and further convergence between Disney’s traditional entertainment media on film and television and Mr Jobs’s digitised stable at Pixar and Apple.
In an interview aired on the the CNBC television channel in America shortly after the deal was struck, Mr Jobs said that he would seek “to spread that culture around a few other parts of Disney”. He went further, however, to suggest that Pixar’s influence at Disney would grow after the deal.
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Disney owns theme parks, television and radio assets, as well as its celebrated film studios. Robert Iger, the chief executive of Disney, suggested that the deal could also broaden the relationship between Apple Computer and Disney. In October the two companies entered into a partnership to provide Disney’s ABC television content to users of Apple’s I-Tunes website.
Disney will pay 2.3 shares for each Pixar share, which, combined with Pixar’s $1 billion of cash on the books, values the transaction at $7.4 billion. Analysts and investors cheered the deal, even though it is valued at more than 30 times Pixar’s prospective earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
Mr Jobs’s growing influence in the media and entertainment world will be cemented by the deal, as he will automatically become by far the biggest shareholder in Disney, as he currently owns more than half of Pixar’s shares. Based on the current numbers of shares in circulation, Mr Jobs could end up with as much as 6.8 per cent of the entertainment giant. He will also become a director of the company, with an important seat on its board.
John Lasseter, recognised as the creative genius behind Pixar, will become the chief creative officer of Disney’s animation studios, as well as principal creative advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering, a division responsible for designing new rides at its theme parks.
Disney and Pixar began working together in 1991. In 1995 they released Toy Story together.
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In a separate move, Disney authorised the buyback of 225 million shares last night, representing 10 per cent of the company’s shares outstanding.