The Walt Disney Co is continuing its bid for world domination this week by adding one of YouTubes big content networks to its collection of pricey properties. According to a recent announcement, Disney acquired Maker Studios, the YouTube network that handles distribution for game-related content from popular YouTube personalities such as TotalBiscuit, PewDiePie, Yogscast, and Game Grumps.
Disney purchased the network for $500 million, giving it a rather large footprint in the YouTube space. The deal could rise to as much as $950 million provided Maker Studios hits a certain performance milestone.
"This gives a presence online to reach the millennial group that is increasingly getting its video online," said Kevin Mayer, Disney executive vice president for corporate strategy. "And it gives us a lot of data to help promote our other businesses to them."
The news came as a bit of a surprise to John Totalbiscuit Bain, who works with Polaris, part of Maker Studios. Bain posted a brief statement to Soundcloud discussing the news.
The deal is expected to close by Disney's third fiscal quarter.
Source: Reuters
