Pixar shareholders OK takeover by Disney

By Times wire services | Saturday, May 06, 2006

Acquisition

Shareholders of Pixar Animation Studios Inc. voted Friday to approve the company’s acquisition by The Walt Disney Co. for $7.4 billion in stock.

The vote makes Pixar a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney and makes Pixar Chief Executive Steve Jobs Disney’s single largest shareholder with about a 7 percent stake.

The deal is squarely aimed at restoring Disney’s luster as a leader in the animated film business. Disney’s own efforts have faltered over the past 10 years while Pixar’s films have been huge successes.

Jobs, who will be named to Disney’s board, had already said he would cast his Pixar shares, which represents 40 percent of the company’s outstanding stock, in favor of the merger. Shareholders met briefly in San Francisco Friday to ratify the deal.

After the vote, Disney filed a registration statement for the stock it will use to finance the deal. Under the plan, Pixar shareholders will exchange each of their shares for 2.3 shares of Disney stock.

The deal comes just a month before the partnership between the two companies was set to expire.