DreamWorks Animation in Rumored Sales Talks
UPDATE: Word spread late today that Japanese conglomerate SoftBank was in talks to acquire DreamWorks Animation. Jeffrey Katzenberg’s company, spun off from Steven Spielberg and David Geffen as part of DreamWorks, has been looking for new backing lately and numerous parties kicked the tires and didn’t love what they saw. It’s been tough since the company went public. Those animated films often have opened slowly and racked up big grosses over time, and every time Katzenberg had one of those soft opening weekends, the stock would drop sharply, as though shareholders didn’t understand how the movie business works, a reason why some public Hollywood companies like Imagine bought back shares and returned to being private.
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EARLIER, 5:31 pm PST: That SoftBank deal, purportedly worth $3.4 billion, was first floated by THR’s Kim Masters.