LOS ANGELES – The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it is buying longtime partner Pixar Animation Studios Inc. for $7.4 billion in stock in a deal that could restore Disney’s clout in animation while vaulting Pixar CEO Steve Jobs into a powerful role at the media conglomerate.
Disney’s purchase of the maker of the blockbuster films “Toy Story and “Finding Nemo” would make Jobs Disney’s largest shareholder. Jobs, who owns more than half of Pixar’s shares and also heads Apple Computer Inc., will also join Disney’s board.
“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,” Disney chief executive Robert Iger said in a statement.
Disney has co-financed and distributed Pixar’s animated films for the past 12 years, splitting the profits. But that deal expires in June after Pixar delivers “Cars.” At one time, it appeared the companies would not renew it amid friction between Jobs and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
With Pixar, Disney gains a company that has produced a long-running string of animated blockbusters. Iger wants to strengthen Disney’s animated features, the hallmark of the company since its founding and a steady source of characters for Disney’s theme parks and other units.
Pixar has served as Disney’s de facto animation unit for a decade. Two Pixar movies, “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles,” have won Academy Awards for best animated feature film.
Pixar films have been a financial windfall for Disney, which receives 60 percent of the profits.
By contrast, Disney’s own animation unit has struggled, producing some modest successes, such as 2002’s “Lilo &Stitch,” and many flops, including “Treasure Planet” and “Home on the Range.”
With Jobs, Disney also tightens its link with Apple Computer, the innovative technology company behind music and video iPods.
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