I bet you never saw this one coming. The house that Mickey Mouse built, Walt Disney, has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, in a stock and cash transaction. Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney on August 28th, 2009, Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, August 28th, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion.

"Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney" said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company.

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney's global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel's properties.