Four months after Comcast announced its intention to acquire animation studio DreamWorks Animation, NBCUniversal, a division of cable company Comcast, has announced the closure of the $3.8 billion deal.
DreamWorks Animation, which produced such films as “Shrek,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “Madagascar” and “How to Train Your Dragon,” will become part of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.
According to the announcement on the Comcast website, DreamWorks Animation stockholders will be receiving $41 in cash per share and DreamWorks Animation shares will no longer be listed on the NASDAQ.
“DreamWorks Animation is a great addition,” said NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke when the deal was announced in April. “DreamWorks will help us grow our film, television, theme parks and consumer products businesses for years to come.”
Films currently in development at DreamWorks Animation include “Trolls,” based on the troll dollspopular in the 1990s, due for a November 2016 release, “Captain Underpants” based on the children’s books by Dav Pilkey for 2017, “The Croods 2” and “How to Train Your Dragon 3” for 2018 and “Shrek 5” for 2019.
