Το παρακάτω δελτίο Τύπου έχει κατά τη γνώμη μου ιστορική
αξία για τους απανταχού "nerds" καθώς και όλους
όσους ενδιαφέρονται και μελετούν την παγκόσμια Pop Culture ως πολιτιστικό αλλά και οικονομικό φαινόμενο.
Ανάλογη ιστορική αξία θα είχε και το αντίστοιχο δελτίο Τύπου για την
εξαγορά της Marvel Comics το 2009.
Μερικές σκέψεις για το μέλλον του Star Wars
Η απόφαση της Disney να αγοράσει το franchise του Star Wars για συνολικά $4,05 δις δολάρια δίχασε εξ' αρχής τους φαν. Κάποιοι έλεγαν ότι αυτό θα σημάνει το τέλος του franchise και την πλήρη υποταγή του στη γενικότερη στρατηγική Marketing της Disney και άλλοι, όπως εγώ, ότι οι ατελείωτοι οικονομικοί και καλλιτεχνικοί πόροι που διαθέτει ο τεράστιος κολοσσός και η εμπειρία 7 δεκαετιών στο Entertainment Marketing μόνο καλό μπορούσε να κάνει στο brand Star Wars, να το αναζωογονήσει και να το βγάλει από την κατάσταση που είχε περιέλθει την τελευταία δεκαετία, αυτή της μηχανής παραγωγής χρημάτων για έναν μόνο άνθρωπο με κάθε τρόπο και μέσο, χωρίς σεβασμό στις επιθυμίες των οπαδών που στο κάτω-κάτω πληρώνουν και τα χρήματά τους.
Σήμερα, 6 μήνες μετά έχει ήδη ανακοινωθεί η νέα τριλογία που θα αρχίσει να προβάλεται στους κινηματογράφους από το 2015 (με σκηνοθέτη τον J.J. Abrams και παραγωγούς-σεναριογράφους τους μόνιμους συνεργάτες του, Kurtzman και Orci), όπως επίσης και αυτοτελείς ταινίες βασισμένες σε δημοφιλείς χαρακτήρες, έχουν προχωρήσει οι συζητήσεις για την αναβληθείσα από παλιά προτεινόμενη τηλεοπτική σειρά, η άδεια για δημιουργία Pen & Paper RPG αφαιρέθηκε από την κουρασμένη και στερευμένη Wizards και δόθηκε στην Fantasy Flight Games (κάτι που ολοκληρώθηκε πριν την εξαγορά) και γενικά έχει ανανεωθεί το ενδιαφέρον, καθώς οι ιθύνοντες προσπαθούν να απευθυνθούν πια και στο νεαρότερο καιρό και να κάνουν relaunch το brand Star Wars σε ηλικίες που δεν έχουν έρθει ακόμα σε επαφή με αυτό.
Από την άλλη, η CGI σειρά Clone Wars έφτασε πολύ κοντά στο "κόψιμο" και μάλλον θα συνεχίσει αποκλειστικά διαδικτυακά, η νέα σειρά-αυτοπαρωδία Star Wars Detours "αναβλήθηκε" προλαβαίνοντας να κάνει μόνο ένα trailer, η εταιρία games LucasArts καταργήθηκε, όλοι της οι υψηλής εξειδίκευσης προγραμματιστές, developers και concept artists απολύθηκαν σε μια μέρα χωρίς προειδοποίηση και το -όπως φαινόταν από τα trailer- αριστουργηματικό MMO Star Wars 1313 ακυρώθηκε (ελπίζω προσωρινά) ώστε να γίνεται outsourcing των μελοντικών παιχνιδιών σε άλλους developers ή να αναπτύσσονται inhouse από τις ήδη υπάρχουσες εταιρίες του ομίλου Disney (τελικά η άδεια παραγωγής games δόθηκε σε αποκλειστικότητα στην Electronic Arts, στην οποία ανήκει και το studio BioWare, κάτι που αποτελεί μάλλον καλό νέο για την ανάπτυξη του εν λόγω MMO). Και είναι παραπάνω από σίγουρο ότι η άδεια παραγωγής κόμικς θα αφαιρεθεί από την εμπνευσμένη Dark Horse μετά το πέρας του υπάρχοντος συμβολαίου και θα περιέλθει στην "αδελφή" (ανήκουσα στη Disney) εταιρία Marvel, που χρόνια τώρα παλεύει με δημιουργικό τέλμα.
Και βεβαίως η νέα προσέγγιση σημαίνει ότι κατά πάσα πιθανότητα 4 δεκαετίες αναπτύξης του υπέροχου αυτού φανταστικού σύμπαντος, της ιστορίας, των χαρακτήρων και των γεγονότων που το αποτελούν θα σβηστούν μονοκοντυλιά, όπως έγινε και με το Star Trek.
Ελπίζω μόνο, ως Starwarsάς, που έχει μεγαλώσει με αυτό και έχει δώσει άπειρο χρόνο και χρήμα, να μη φτάσω να απεχθάνομαι αυτό που λάτρευα.
Σημείωση: Μαζί με το Star Wars, η Disney αγόρασε με την ίδια συμφωνία και το γνωστό και αγαπημένο franchise του Indiana Jones και τα δικαιώματα άλλων, ήσσονος σημασίας pop culture brands που εκπορεύονται από ταινίες του Λούκας, όπως Willow, The Land Before Time και Red Tails.
Σημείωση: Μαζί με το Star Wars, η Disney αγόρασε με την ίδια συμφωνία και το γνωστό και αγαπημένο franchise του Indiana Jones και τα δικαιώματα άλλων, ήσσονος σημασίας pop culture brands που εκπορεύονται από ταινίες του Λούκας, όπως Willow, The Land Before Time και Red Tails.
Το Δελτίο Τύπου
October 30, 2012
DISNEY TO ACQUIRE LUCASFILM LTD.
Global leader in high-quality family entertainment agrees to
acquire world-renowned Lucasfilm Ltd, including legendary STAR WARS
franchise.
Acquisition continues Disney's strategic focus on creating and
monetizing the world's best branded content, innovative technology and
global growth to drive long-term shareholder value.
Lucasfilm to join company's global portfolio of world class brands including Disney, ESPN, Pixar, Marvel and ABC.
STAR WARS: EPISODE 7 feature film targeted for release in 2015.
Burbank, CA and San Francisco, CA, October 30, 2012 –
Continuing its strategy of delivering exceptional creative content to
audiences around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) has
agreed to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. in a stock and cash transaction.
Lucasfilm is 100% owned by Lucasfilm Chairman and Founder, George Lucas.
Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of
Disney stock on October 26, 2012, the transaction value is $4.05
billion, with Disney paying approximately half of the consideration in
cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing. The final
consideration will be subject to customary post-closing balance sheet
adjustments.
"Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and
storytelling of its founder, George Lucas," said Robert A. Iger,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. "This
transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one
of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with
Disney's unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms,
businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive
significant long-term value."
"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars
passed from one generation to the next," said George Lucas, Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm. "It's now time for me to pass
Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I've always believed that Star Wars
could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the
transition during my lifetime. I'm confident that with Lucasfilm under
the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the
Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and
flourish for many generations to come. Disney's reach and experience
give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television,
interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer
products."
Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Lucasfilm, a leader
in entertainment, innovation and technology, including its massively
popular and "evergreen" Star Wars franchise and its operating
businesses in live action film production, consumer products, animation,
visual effects, and audio post production. Disney will also acquire
the substantial portfolio of cutting-edge entertainment technologies
that have kept audiences enthralled for many years. Lucasfilm,
headquartered in San Francisco, operates under the names Lucasfilm Ltd.,
LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound, and the
present intent is for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current
locations.
Kathleen Kennedy, current Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will become
President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan
Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars,
working directly with Disney's global lines of business to build,
further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Ms.
Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant. Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future.
The acquisition combines two highly compatible family entertainment
brands, and strengthens the long-standing beneficial relationship
between them that already includes successful integration of Star Wars content into Disney theme parks in Anaheim, Orlando, Paris and Tokyo.
Driven by a tremendously talented creative team, Lucasfilm's legendary Star Wars
franchise has flourished for more than 35 years, and offers a virtually
limitless universe of characters and stories to drive continued
feature film releases and franchise growth over the long term. Star Wars
resonates with consumers around the world and creates extensive
opportunities for Disney to deliver the content across its diverse
portfolio of businesses including movies, television, consumer products,
games and theme parks. Star Wars feature films have earned a total of $4.4 billion in global box to date, and continued global demand has made Star Wars
one of the world's top product brands, and Lucasfilm a leading product
licensor in the United States in 2011. The franchise provides a
sustainable source of high quality, branded content with global appeal
and is well suited for new business models including digital platforms,
putting the acquisition in strong alignment with Disney's strategic
priorities for continued long-term growth.
The Lucasfilm acquisition follows Disney's very successful
acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel, which demonstrated the company's
unique ability to fully develop and expand the financial potential of
high quality creative content with compelling characters and
storytelling through the application of innovative technology and
multiplatform distribution on a truly global basis to create maximum
value. Adding Lucasfilm to Disney's portfolio of world class brands
significantly enhances the company's ability to serve consumers with a
broad variety of the world's highest-quality content and to create
additional long-term value for our shareholders.
The Boards of Directors of Disney and Lucasfilm have approved the
transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino
Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control
regulations, and other customary closing conditions. The agreement has
been approved by the sole shareholder of Lucasfilm.
Note: Additional information and comments from Robert A. Iger,
chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company, and Jay Rasulo, senior
executive vice president and CFO, The Walt Disney Company, regarding
Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, are attached.
Investor Conference Call:
An investor conference call will take place at approximately 4:30
p.m. EDT / 1:30 p.m. PDT today, October 30, 2012. To listen to the
Webcast, turn your browser to /investors/events or dial
in domestically at (888) 771-4371 or internationally at (847)
585-4405. For both dial-in numbers, the participant pass code is
33674546.
The discussion will be available via replay on the Disney Investor
Relations website through November 13, 2012 at 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST.
About The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and
affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment
and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks
and resorts, studio entertainment, interactive media, and consumer
products. Disney is a Dow 30 company with revenues of over $40 billion
in its Fiscal Year 2011.
About Lucasfilm Ltd.
Founded by George Lucas in 1971, Lucasfilm is a privately held,
fully-integrated entertainment company. In addition to its
motion-picture and television production operations, the company's
global activities include Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker
Sound, serving the digital needs of the entertainment industry for
visual-effects and audio post-production; LucasArts, a leading developer
and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide; Lucas
Licensing, which manages the global merchandising activities for
Lucasfilm's entertainment properties; Lucasfilm Animation; and Lucas
Online creates Internet-based content for Lucasfilm's entertainment
properties and businesses. Additionally, Lucasfilm Singapore, produces
digital animated content for film and television, as well as visual
effects for feature films and multi-platform games. Lucasfilm Ltd. is
headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Contact:
Zenia Mucha
The Walt Disney Company
818-560-5300
Forward-Looking Statements:
Certain statements in this communication and the attachments may
constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements relate
to a variety of matters, including but not limited to: the operations
of the businesses of Disney and Lucasfilm separately and as a combined
entity; the timing and consummation of the proposed merger transaction;
the expected benefits of the integration of the two companies; the
combined company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and
other statements that are not historical fact. These statements are made
on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of
the management of Disney and Lucasfilm regarding future events and are
subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date they are made. Neither Disney nor
Lucasfilm undertakes any obligation to update or revise these
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied.
Such differences may result from a variety of factors, including but
not limited to:
- legal or regulatory proceedings or other matters that affect the timing or ability to complete the transactions as contemplated;
- the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully;
- the possibility of disruption from the merger making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships;
- the possibility that the merger does not close, including but not limited to, due to the failure to satisfy the closing conditions;
- any actions taken by either of the companies, including but not limited to, restructuring or strategic initiatives (including capital investments or asset acquisitions or dispositions);
- developments beyond the companies' control, including but not limited to: changes in domestic or global economic conditions, competitive conditions and consumer preferences; adverse weather conditions or natural disasters; health concerns; international, political or military developments; and technological developments.
Additional factors that may cause results to differ materially
from those described in the forward-looking statements are set forth in
the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Disney for the year ended October 1,
2011, under the heading "Item 1A—Risk Factors," and in subsequent
reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the SEC by
Disney.
ROBERT A. IGER, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY
REMARKS FOR ANALYSTS REGARDING DISNEY'S ACQUISITION OF LUCASFILM LTD.,
AS PREPARED
As we just announced, The Walt Disney Company has agreed to acquire
Lucasfilm and its world class portfolio of creative content – including
the legendary Star Wars franchise – along with all of its operating businesses, including Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound.
George Lucas is a visionary, an innovator and an epic storyteller –
and he's built a company at the intersection of entertainment and
technology to bring some of the world's most unforgettable characters
and stories to screens across the galaxy. He's entertained, inspired,
and defined filmmaking for almost four decades and we're incredibly
honored that he has entrusted the future of that legacy to Disney.
Disney has had a great relationship with George that goes back a long way – with Star Wars
theme attractions in our parks in Anaheim, Orlando, Paris and Tokyo.
This acquisition builds on that foundation and combines two of the
strongest family entertainment brands in the world. It makes sense, not
just because of our brand compatibility and previous success together,
but because Disney respects and understands – better than just about
anyone else – the importance of iconic characters and what it takes to
protect and leverage them effectively to drive growth and create value.
Lucasfilm fits perfectly with Disney's strategic priorities. It is a
sustainable source of branded, high quality creative content with
tremendous global appeal that will benefit all of Disney's business
units and is incredibly well suited for new business models, including
digital platforms. Adding the Lucasfilm IP to our existing Disney,
Pixar and Marvel IP clearly enhances our ability to serve consumers,
strengthening our competitive position -- and we are confident we can
earn a return on invested capital well in excess of our cost of capital.
Star Wars in particular is a strong global brand, and one of
the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with
hundreds of millions of fans around the globe. Its universe of more
than 17,000 characters inhabiting several thousand planets spanning
20,000 years offers infinite inspiration and opportunities – and we're
already moving forward with plans to continue the epic Star Wars saga.
The last Star Wars movie release was 2005's Revenge of the Sith – and we believe there's substantial pent up demand. In 2015, we're planning to release Star Wars Episode 7 – the
first feature film under the "Disney-Lucasfilm" brand. That will be
followed by Episodes 8 and 9 – and our long term plan is to release a
new Star Wars feature film every two to three years. We're very happy that George Lucas will be creative consultant on our new Star Wars
films and that Kathleen Kennedy, the current Co-Chair of Lucasfilm,
will executive produce. George handpicked Kathy earlier this year to
lead Lucasfilm into the future. She'll join Disney as President of
Lucasfilm, reporting into Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn and
integrating and building the Star Wars franchise across our company.
Our successful acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel prove Disney's unique
ability to grow brands and expand high-quality creative content to its
fullest franchise potential and maximum value.
We've leveraged Pixar's terrific characters and stories into
franchises across our company – from feature films to consumer products
online games, major attractions in our theme parks, and more.
The 2006 Pixar acquisition delivered more than great Pixar content --
it also delivered the means to energize and revitalize the creative
engine at Walt Disney Animation – which was crucial to our long term
success. Animation is the heart and soul of Disney and our successful
creative resurgence will be on full display this weekend when Wreck-It-Ralph opens in theaters across the country.
Our acquisition of Marvel three years later combined Marvel's strong
global brand and world-renowned library of characters with Disney's
creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment
properties, and an integrated business structure that maximizes the
value of creative content across multiple platforms and territories.
Our first two Marvel films – Thor and Captain America grossed a total of more than $800 million at the box office. This year, Marvel's The Avengers
grossed more than $1.5 billion to become the world's third highest
grossing movie of all time – and an important and lucrative franchise
for us.
We're looking forward to a robust slate of new Marvel movies – starting with Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World next year, followed by Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014. And, as we announced previously, Joss Whedon is writing and directing Avengers 2 and developing a Marvel-based series for ABC.
Pixar and Marvel both fit our criteria for strategic acquisitions –
they add great IP that benefits multiple Disney businesses for years to
come, and continue to create value well in excess of their purchase
price. The acquisition of Lucasfilm is in keeping with this proven
strategy for success and we expect it to create similar opportunity for
Disney to drive long-term value for our shareholders.
We're clearly excited about this move forward. We believe we can do
great things with these amazing assets….we have a proven track record
of maximizing the value of our strategic acquisitions…. and we're
poised to do the same with this one.
JAY RASULO, SENIOR EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CFO, THE
WALT DISNEY COMPANY REMARKS FOR ANALYSTS REGARDING DISNEY'S ACQUISITION
OF LUCASFILM LTD., AS PREPARED
Lucasfilm, and more specifically the Star Wars franchise,
fits perfectly within the Disney portfolio of intellectual properties
and the strategic and financial implications of this acquisition are
compelling. Our team has spent a tremendous amount of time evaluating
this deal and we have concluded we are uniquely positioned to maximize
the value of Lucasfilm's IP in a manner that can generate substantial
value for our shareholders above and beyond the purchase price.
In this transaction we will acquire rights to the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises,
a highly talented and expert team, Lucasfilm's best-in-class post
production businesses, Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound,
and a suite of cutting edge entertainment technologies. Our valuation
focused almost entirely on the financial potential of the Star Wars
franchise, which we expect to provide us with a stream of storytelling
opportunities for years to come delivered via all relevant platforms on
a global basis.
There are a number of ways our company will derive value from
Lucasfilm's intellectual property—some of which can be realized
immediately while others will accrue to us over time. George and his
team have built Star Wars into one of the most successful and
enduring family entertainment franchises in history, as well as one of
the best selling licensed character merchandise brands in the U.S. and
around the world. However, we believe there is great opportunity to
further expand the consumer products business. Today, Star Wars is heavily skewed toward toys and North America. We see great opportunity domestically to extend the breadth and depth of the Star Wars franchise into other categories. We also plan to leverage Disney's global consumer products organization to grow the Star Wars consumer products business internationally.
Let me note that in 2012 Lucasfilm's consumer products business is
expected to generate total licensing revenue that is comparable to the
roughly $215 million in consumer products revenue Marvel generated in
2009, the year in which we announced our acquisition. With renewed film
releases, and the support we can give the Star Wars property
on our Disney-branded TV channels, we expect that business to grow
substantially and profitably for many years to come.
We also expect to create significant value in the film business. We plan to release the first new Star Wars film in 2015,
and then plan to release one film every two to three years. These
films will be released and distributed as part of our target slate of
8-10 live-action films per year, and will augment Disney's already
strong creative pipeline for many years to come. Lucasfilm has not
released a Star Wars film since Revenge of the Sith in
2005. However, adjusted for inflation, as well as growth in both
international box office and 3D, we estimate the three most recent Star Wars
films would have averaged about $1.5 billion in global box office in
today's dollars. This speaks to the franchise's strength, global appeal
and the great opportunity we have in the film business.
We also expect to utilize Star Wars in other businesses
including Parks & Resorts, in games and in our television business.
These initiatives were also considered in our valuation.
Under the terms of the agreement, Disney will buy Lucasfilm for $4.05
billion, consisting of approximately fifty percent cash and fifty
percent in Disney stock. Based on Friday's closing price of Disney
stock, we expect to issue approximately 40 million Disney shares in this
transaction. We continue to believe our shares are attractively priced
at current levels and therefore, we currently intend to repurchase all
of the shares issued within the next two years-- and that's in
addition to what we planned to repurchase in the absence of the
transaction.
Our valuation of Lucasfilm is roughly comparable to the value we
placed on Marvel when we announced that acquisition in 2009. Our
Lucasfilm valuation is almost entirely driven by the Star Wars
franchise, so any success from other franchises would provide upside to
our base case. I realize it may be a challenge for you to quantify our
opportunity given the limited amount of publicly available information.
But to give you some perspective on the size of the Lucasfilm
business-- in 2005, the year in which the most recent Star Wars
film was released, Lucasfilm generated $550 million in operating
income. We've taken a conservative approach in our valuation
assumptions, including continued erosion of the home entertainment
market, and we expect this acquisition to create value for our
shareholders.
In terms of the impact on our financials, we expect the acquisition
to be dilutive to our EPS by low single digit percentage points in
fiscal 2013 and 2014 and become accretive to EPS in 2015.
Our capital allocation philosophy has been consistent since Bob took
over as CEO. In addition to returning capital to shareholders, we have
invested, both organically and through acquisitions, in high quality,
branded content that can be seamlessly leveraged across our businesses.
Our acquisition of Lucasfilm is entirely consistent with this strategy,
and we're incredibly excited by the prospect of building on
Lucasfilm's successful legacy to create significant value for our
shareholders.
Πηγή: http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-news
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