Disney has agreed to acquire Pixar in an all-stock transaction, expected to be completed by this summer. Under terms of the agreement, 2.3 Disney shares will be issued for each Pixar share. The transaction is valued at $7.4 billion.
Pixar President Ed Catmull will serve as president of the new Pixar and Disney animation studios, reporting to Robert Iger, president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios.
In addition, Pixar Executive Vice President John Lasseter will be COO of the animation studios, as well as principal creative advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering.
Pixar Chairman and CEO Steve Jobs will be appointed to Disney’s Board of Directors as a non-independent member. With the addition of Jobs, 11 of Disney’s 14 directors will be independent. Both Disney and Pixar animation units will retain their current operations and locations.
The Boards of Directors of Disney and Pixar have approved the transaction and the approval of Pixar’s shareholders. Jobs, who owns approximately 50 percent of the outstanding Pixar shares, has agreed to vote a number of shares equal to 40 percent of the outstanding shares in favor of the transaction.
