by Stacy Jones on Mar 25, 2014
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