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Monday, August 31, 2009

Disney pays $4B for Marvel's Spider-Man and pals

Marvel Entertainment has agreed to sell to Walt Disney for $4 billion, or $50 a share.

Marvel owns Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Iron Man, and other 1950s-era comic book titles turned mass-market licensing bonanzas, which have been resurrected as thinly-plotted but brightly-colored action films by the creatively-challenged Hollywood movie studios.

The sale ends a long, wild ride for Marvel that included a litigious stint as part of Philadelphia-bred dealmaker Ron Perelman's complex business holdings in the 1990s.

Marvel was for a time owner of Philadelphia baseball card maker Fleer Corp., later Fleer/Sky Box International of Mount Laurel. Later the Grass family (of Rite Aid) bought Fleer; they ran it into bankruptcy, and shut Fleer in 2005; the brand was bought by Upper Deck Co., Carlsbad, Calif., the last surviving competitor of New York's Topps Inc., which earlier this month signed an exclusive deal with Major League Baseball, marginalizing Upper Deck.

Which brings us full circle: Topps is run by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner..
Posted by Joseph N. DiStefano @ 9:32 AM  Permalink | 1 comment
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:17 PM, 08/31/2009
    That's what Michael Eisner has been reduced to? That guy was hated by his own employees and a documented cheapskate. Now that he has a monopoly on MLB cards, watch as he jacks the prices and reduces the quality.
    — steverawthar


1 comments
About Joseph N. DiStefano
Joseph N. DiStefano writes this blog to feed his PhillyDeals column in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Joe has been a member of Bloomberg LP’s New York Finance Team, wrote the book “Comcasted,” taught writing at St. Joseph’s University, and studied economics and history at Penn. Reach Joe at 215-854-5194 and JoeD@phillynews.com
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