Entertainment major Walt Disney Company will acquire Marvel Entertainment, the firm well known for comics of super heroes, for an estimated $4 billion in a cash and stock deal.
The proposed transaction has been approved by the boards of both companies.
Walt Disney, in a statement on Monday, said that based on the closing price of Disney stock on August 28, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or about $4 billion.
"This transaction combines Marvel's strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney's creative skills," Walt Disney's President and Chief Executive Officer Robert A Iger said.
Under the deal, Disney would acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters.
"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," Marvel's Chief Executive Officer Ike Perlmutter said.
