Report: Disney Getting Hot And Heavy WIth Pixar
Today's Wall Street Journal reports that the flirtation between Pixar's Steve Jobs and Disney's Bob Iger has turned "serious," advancing from the Sitting Deliciously Close On The Couch, Coyly Swirling Wine In The Glass, With Occasional Smoldering Eye Contact Stage to the "Does It Make You Feel Good When I Touch You There?" Stage, with an eye towards the Mouseketeers buying up The House That Toy Story Built (sub. req'd.):
In the deal under discussion, Disney would pay a nominal premium to Pixar's current market value of $6.7 billion in a stock transaction that would make Pixar Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs the largest individual shareholder in Disney, according to people familiar with the situation. [...]
People familiar with the situation caution that the talks are at a sensitive stage and that the outcome isn't certain, noting that other options are possible. [...]People familiar with the situation say the two sides could decide on a less-ambitious course, including some form of agreement for Disney to distribute movies that Pixar finances and makes.
Indeed, anything can happen during the sensitive moments of such high-level bargaining. One wrong, overly assertive move and Iger could suddenly find himself stuttering out an apology for why the talks unexpectedly shifted to the "I Thought We Agreed You'd Ask Before You Tried That, What Do You Think I Am, Your Filthy Little Playground?" Stage, leading to a much "less-ambitious" course of "self-negotiation."
