List of acquisitions by Disney explained

The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923 and since 1996 has acquired many properties toincrease its size in the media industry. The table shows the most substantial and important acquisitions that Disney has made over the years.

Acquisitions

	Acquired company 44	Date	Country	Price (US$)	Price Adjusted for Inflation (US$)	Parent/Merged With	References
1	Disneyland, Inc.	1957 (64% controlling stake)	United States	562,500		Disney Parks, Experiences and Products	^[1]
		1960 (remaining shares)	United States	7,500,000			^[2] ^[3]
2	WED Enterprises (park designing and engineering division)	1965	United States
3	Retlaw Enterprises (parks transportation division)	1982	United States	42,600,000			^[4]
4	Wrather Corporation	1987 (50% share)	United States				^[5]
		1988 (remaining 50%)	United States				^[6]
5	Capital Cities/ABC Inc.	February 9, 1996	United States	19,000,000,000		Disney General Entertainment Content	^[7]
6	Toysmart	August 1996	United States			Disney Interactive	^[8]
7	Starwave	April 30, 1998	United States	400,000,000		Go.com	^[9]
8	Infoseek	July 12, 1999	United States	1,770,000,000			^[10] ^[11]
9	Fox Family Worldwide Saban Entertainment	October 24, 2001	United States	2,900,000,000		ABC Family Worldwide Buena Vista Studios Entertainment	^[12]
10	The Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House properties	February 17, 2004	United States	75,000,000		The Muppets Studio	^[13]
11	Avalanche Software	April 19, 2005	United States			Disney Interactive Studios	^[14]
12	Living Mobile	October 19, 2005	Germany			Walt Disney Internet Group	^[15]
13	Pixar	May 5, 2006	United States	7,400,000,000		Walt Disney Studios	^[16]
14	Climax Racing	September 2006				Disney Interactive Studios	^[17]
15	Junction Point Studios	February 8, 2007	United States				^[18]
16	New Horizon Interactive	August 2007	Canada	350,000,000			^[19]
17	GameStar	February 2009	China				^[20]
18	Wideload Games	September 8, 2009	United States				^[21]
19	Marvel Entertainment	December 31, 2009	United States	4,400,000,000		The Walt Disney Company	^[22]
20	Tapulous	July 1, 2010	United States			Disney Mobile	^[23]
21	Playdom	August 27, 2010	United States	563,000,000		Disney Interactive	^[24]
22	UTV Software Communications	January 31, 2012	India	450,000,000		The Walt Disney Company India	^[25]
23	StudioEX	December 10, 2012				Disney Interactive	^[26]
24	Lucasfilm	December 21, 2012	United States	4,050,000,000		Walt Disney Studios	^[27] ^[28]
25	Maker Studios	March 24, 2014	United States	500,000,000		Disney Digital Network	^[29]
26	BAMTech	2016	United States	2,930,000,000			Disney Streaming	^[30] ^[31] ^[32] ^[33]
27	Euro Disney SCA	June 19, 2017	France	760,000,000		Disney Parks, Experiences and Products	^[34] ^[35]
28	21st Century Fox	March 20, 2019	United States	71,300,000,000		The Walt Disney Company	^[36] ^[37]
29	Hulu (remaining 43% of shares)	April 16, 2019 (WarnerMedia's 10% stake)	United States	1,430,000,000		Disney Streaming	^[38]
		December 1, 2023 (Comcast's 33% stake)	United States	8,610,000,000	8,610,000,000		^[39]
30		February 7, 2024 (9% equity stake)	United States	1,500,000,000		The Walt Disney Company	^[40] ^[41]

Divestments

Acquirer	Target company	Date of sale	Price of sale	References
Young Broadcasting	KCAL-TV	May 14, 1996	385,000,000	^[42]
Rural Press	Farm Progress	July 1, 1997		^[43]
Advance Publications	Fairchild Publications	August 20, 1999	650,000,000	^[44]
Andy Heyward Bain Capital Chase Capital Partners	DIC Entertainment	November 25, 2000		^[45] ^[46]
The Weinstein Company	Dimension Films	2005		^[47]
Citadel Broadcasting	ABC Radio Networks	June 12, 2007		^[48]
Saban Brands	Power Rangers and entertainment assets	May 12, 2010	43,000,000	^[49]
Filmyard Holdings	Miramax Films	December 3, 2010	663,000,000	^[50] ^[51]
Kids II, Inc.	The Baby Einstein Company	October 14, 2013		^[52]
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment	Avalanche Software	January 24, 2017		^[53]
Sinclair Broadcast Group Entertainment Studios	Fox Sports Networks	August 22, 2019	10,600,000,000	^[54]
Scopely	FoxNext Games	January 22, 2020		^[55]
Banijay	Endemol Shine Group	3 July 2020	2,200,000,000	^[56]
Gimbal, Inc.	TrueX	September 28, 2020		^[57]
ViacomCBS	TeleColombia	November 23, 2021		^[58] ^[59]
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa	KRDC	June 13, 2023	5,000,000	^[60]

See also

• Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney

Notes and References

1. Disneyland Tabs $2.29 Per Capita; See Small Net First Yr.. May 6, 2015. Billboard. January 28, 1956. 69.
2. Disneyland Draws 4,200,000; Parent Firm Buys More Stock. May 6, 2015. Billboard. January 13, 1958.
3. Book: Thomas. Bob . Walt Disney - An American Original . 1994. 286.
4. News: Peltz. James F.. The Wonderful World of Disney's Other Firm : Entertainment: Walt Disney created a separate company for his family. Retlaw Enterprises Inc. is now worth hundreds of millions.. July 19, 2012. Los Angeles Times. October 2, 1990.
5. News: Berg. Eric N.. Company News; Wrather Accepts $21-a-Share Offer. August 27, 2015. New York Times. September 29, 1987.
6. News: COMPANY NEWS; Disney Buys Stake. August 27, 2015. New York Times. March 30, 1988.
7. News: The Media Business: The Merger; Walt Disney to Acquire Abc in $19 Billion Deal to Build a Giant for Entertainment. Geraldine. Fabrikant. August 1, 1995. The New York Times.
8. Gelsi, Steve. (August 25, 1999). Disney plays with Toysmart.com. Marketwatch.com.
9. Web site: Disney to buy Starwave. Jeff. Pelline. CNET.
10. News: 12 Walt Disney Company Acquisitions Worth over $114 Billion. Mitchell. Tomczak. March 14, 2020. Mitten To Magic.
11. Web site: Disney absorbs Infoseek. money.cnn.com.
12. Web site: Disney buys Fox Family. CNN Money. July 23, 2001. August 11, 2012.
13. Web site: Disney buys Muppets from Hensons. iol.co.za.
14. Web site: Disney scoops up Avalanche, founds new studio . Dawn . Kawamoto . April 19, 2005 . . June 25, 2017 . September 17, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170917124025/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/disney-scoops-up-avalanche-founds-new-studio/1100-6122500/ . live.
15. Web site: Walt Disney Internet Group acquires Living Mobile. Games Industry. November 8, 2005.
16. Web site: Disney buys Pixar. money.cnn.com.
17. News: Sinclair. Brendan. Buena Vista Games to acquire Climax Racing. 22 October 2012. gamespot.com. September 28, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20120927222044/http://www.gamespot.com/news/buena-vista-games-to-acquire-climax-racing-6158970. 27 September 2012. live. mdy-all.
18. News: Disney buys game developer Junction Point. 19 October 2012. Los Angeles Times. July 13, 2007. Bloomberg News. https://web.archive.org/web/20160915051626/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/13/business/fi-disney13. 15 September 2016. live. mdy-all.
19. News: Disney Buys Kids' Social-Network Site – WSJ.com . Wall Street Journal . December 26, 2010 . Merissa . Marr . Peter . Sanders . August 2, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180307214255/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118599768804085026?mod=hpp_us_whats_news . March 7, 2018 . live .
20. News: Disney Interactive Studios Buys Chinese Gaming Studio Gamestar. 19 October 2012. CBS News.com. February 11, 2009. Pearl Research.
21. News: Disney Interactive Studios to Buy Wideload Games. https://web.archive.org/web/20140611044210/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-208350009.html. dead. June 11, 2014. 17 October 2012. Entertainment Close-up. September 9, 2009.
22. Web site: Disney to buy Marvel for $4 billion. money.cnn.com.
23. Web site: Breaking: Tapulous Acquired By Disney. Schonfeld. Erick. 2010-07-01. TechCrunch. en-US. 2019-09-12.
24. Web site: Barnes . Brooks . Miller . Claire Cain . July 27, 2010 . Disney Purchases Playdom, a Social Game Start-Up . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101229031630/http://www.playdom.com//marketing/PDFs/2010-07-27-NYTimesDisneyBuysPlaydom.pdf . 2010-12-29 . 2010-09-27.
25. Web site: Dore . Shalini . 2012-02-01 . Disney buys out India producer UTV . 2022-07-04 . Variety . en-US.
26. Web site: Duryee. Tricia. Disney Buys South Korean Game Developer Studio Ex for Push Into Asia. All Things Digital. December 10, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20230116202958/https://allthingsd.com/20121210/disney-buys-s-korean-game-developer-studio-ex-for-push-into-asia/. January 16, 2023. February 10, 2024.
27. News: Disney buys Star Wars maker Lucasfilm from George Lucas. October 31, 2012. bbc.com.
28. Mickey + 'Star Wars' = Disney completes Lucasfilm acquisition. Schou. Solvej. Entertainment Weekly. December 21, 2012. December 22, 2012.
29. Web site: Disney buys YouTube network Maker Studios for $500M. Joan E.. Solsman. CNET.
30. Web site: The Walt Disney Company Acquires Minority Stake in BAMTech. August 9, 2016. The Walt Disney Company.
31. Web site: The Walt Disney Company to Acquire Majority Ownership of BAMTech. August 8, 2017. The Walt Disney Company.
32. Web site: Disney Buys NHL's 10% Stake In BAMTech For $350 Million; MLB's 15% On The Table In 2022. Jill. Goldsmith. Deadline. 12 August 2021.
33. Web site: SEC-Show .
34. Web site: The Walt Disney Company Takes Full Ownership of Disneyland Paris in Buyout. June 13, 2017.
35. Web site: Disneyland Paris now fully under Walt Disney Company control. www.baynews9.com.
36. Web site: Disney Closes $71.3 Billion Fox Deal, Creating Global Content Powerhouse . Szalai . Georg . Bond . Paul . March 20, 2019 . The Hollywood Reporter . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190320064742/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-closes-fox-deal-creating-global-content-powerhouse-1174498 . March 20, 2019 . March 20, 2019.
37. Web site: Disney Officially Owns 21st Century Fox. NPR.org. 20 March 2019. Schwartz. Matthew S..
38. Web site: Levy . Ari . April 15, 2019 . AT&T sells Hulu stake, valuing the video streaming company at $15 billion . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190415221531/https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/15/att-sells-hulu-stake-valuing-company-at-15-billion.html . April 15, 2019 . April 15, 2019 . www.cnbc.com.
39. Web site: Darcy . Oliver . 2023-11-01 . Disney to acquire remaining stake in Hulu for $8.6 billion CNN Business . 2023-11-14 . CNN . en.
40. Web site: Goldsmith . Jill . 2024-02-07 . Disney Buys Stake In Epic Games, Sets Entertainment Partnership Around Fortnite. 2024-02-07 . Deadline . en.
41. Web site: Malik . Yuvraj . 2024-02-08 . Disney's Epic deal shows sharp cut in Fortnite maker's valuation -The Information. 2024-03-15 . Reuters . en.
42. https://online.wsj.com/articles/SB832033906174894500 Young Broadcasting Buys KCAL-TV from Disney
43. Web site: Australian Firm Buys Parent Of Prairie Farmer Magazine From Disney . Chicago Tribune . 2014-08-23 .
44. News: Kuczinsky. Alex. Merger Planned for 2 Giants of Fashion Publishing. 30 August 2014. The New York Times . August 20, 1999.
45. Carl DiOrio . Bain backing buyout of DiC . Variety . 2000-09-18 . 2016-01-27.
46. Charles Lyons . DIC plays new toon . Variety . 2000-11-19 . 2016-01-27.
47. Web site: The Weinstein Co. / Dimension Films. Mohr. Ian. September 10, 2006. Variety. September 30, 2017.
48. "Disney and Citadel Announce Completion of ABC Radio Merger" Official Press Release. June 12, 2007
49. News: Disney's Q3 boosted by TV operations profit; Power Rangers sale added $43 million to coffers. August 11, 2010. The Hollywood Reporter. August 10, 2010. Paul. Bond.
50. Web site: Mason. Ian Garrick. When Harvey met Mickey. New Statesman. UK. October 11, 2004. January 11, 2007.
51. News: Disney completes $663M sale of Miramax. Ryan Nakashima. Associated Press via Yahoo! News. December 5, 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110629044428/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/Disney-completes-663M-sale-of-apf-1909918456.html?x=0. June 29, 2011.
52. News: Kids II Purchases Baby Einstein . License! Global. October 14, 2013 . License! Global .
53. Web site: Disney Infinity dev revived and re-opened by Warner Bros. . Alissa . McAloon . January 24, 2017 . . July 7, 2020 . January 25, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170125194932/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/289935/Disney_Infinity_dev_revived_and_reopened_by_Warner_Bros.php . live.
54. Web site: Sinclair Clinches Disney-Regional Sports Networks Deal, Byron Allen Joins as Partner. Littleton. Cynthia. Variety. en. 2019-05-05. May 3, 2019.
55. Web site: Disney Sells FoxNext Games Los Angeles And Cold Iron Studios To Scopely . Dade . Hayes . 22 January 2020 . 22 January 2020 . .
56. Web site: Sophie Turner Laing To Leave Endemol Shine Group As Banijay Group Completes $2.2BN Takeover. Deadline Hollywood. July 3, 2020.
57. Web site: Disney Sells Ad Tech Firm TrueX To Marketing Data Company Gimbal . Weprin . Alex . . September 28, 2020 . live . September 30, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200930082402/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-sells-ad-tech-firm-truex-to-marketing-data-company-gimbal . September 30, 2020.
58. Web site: VIACOMCBS TO ACQUIRE MAJORITY INTEREST IN FOX TELECOLOMBIA & ESTUDIOS TELEMEXICO ViacomCBS. October 28, 2021. ViacomCBS. en.
59. ViacomCBS Completes Acquisition Of Majority Interest In Fox TeleColombia & Estudios TeleMexico . 2021-11-23 . PR Newswire . en.
60. Web site: Keys . Matthew . 2023-06-13 . Disney sells its final radio station for $5 million . 2023-12-11 . TheDesk.net.