Spidey in Walt Disney's net

London, Sep 1: The world of animation entertainment is all set to become much bigger as Walt Disney buys Marvel Entertainment in a 4-billion dollar deal.

After the deal is sealed, Disney will be the owner of 5,000 Marvel characters, including superheroes like Spider-Man and the X-Men.

Shareholders of Marvel will receive 30 dollars per share in cash along with 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they own.

The board of directors of both the entertainment companies have approved the deal, which will be inked after the support of Marvel's shareholders and competition authorities.

The BBC quoted Robert Iger, Disney president and chief executive as saying, "We believe that adding Marvel to Disney's unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation."

"We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney."

He added, "Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," said Marvel chief executive Ike Perlmutter.

"This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney's tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world."

Business analysts say the deal is "win-win situation for both companies".

ANI