It has been quite a shock of this Halloween week.On Tuesday, October 30th,
Walt Disney Company has bought
Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in cash and stock. They both announced, that Star Wars: Episode 7 is in the making, to be released in 2015. Disney is systematically growing, since 2006 it has already puchased Pixar and Marvel Entertainment in 2009. For the price, Lucas has also sold control in Industrial Light & Magic (a special effects branch of Lucasfilm) and Skywalker Sound, but also the rights to the Star Wars brand, quite a lucrative business. More
here and in
USA Today.
Just a day earlier, on Monday October 29th, the joint venture deal between Random House and Penguin owners has been agreed to create the biggest publishing business. The owners of those two companies are Pearson (owns Penguin) and Bertlesmann (owns Random House), and so the size of the new establishment must amaze. To see it in a few numbers,
Penguin - established 1935, HQ London, 3500 employees, 110 mln books sold annually;
Random House - established 1925, HQ New York, 5300 employees, 400 mln books sold annually.
More on the subject from
BBC and
The Guardian.
No comments:
Post a Comment