TechTaffy

tech:

taffy

Comcast Acquires DreamWorks Animation For $3.8 Billion

By TechTaffy Desk

NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, is buying DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion. The studio will become part of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, which includes Universal Pictures, Fandango, and NBCUniversal Brand Development.

Following the completion of the transaction, DreamWorks Animation CEO and co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg will become chairman of DreamWorks New Media, which will be comprised of the company’s ownership interests in Awesomeness TV and NOVA. Mr. Katzenberg will also serve as a consultant to NBCUniversal.

Steve Burke (CEO, NBCUniversal):  Jeffrey Katzenberg and the DreamWorks organization have created a dynamic film brand and a deep library of intellectual property.  DreamWorks will help us grow our film, television, theme parks and consumer products businesses for years to come.  We have enjoyed extraordinary success over the last six years in animation with the emergence of Illumination Entertainment and its brilliant team at Illumination Mac Guff studio.  The prospects for our future together are tremendous.

Comcast was advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell on legal matters.  DreamWorks Animation was advised on financial matters by Centerview Partners and on legal matters by Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and on legal matters by Munger Tolles & Olson.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2016, subject to antitrust approvals in the U.S. and abroad, as well as customary closing conditions.

[Image courtesy: Dreamworks Animation]

Just in

Fundings

Rivos raises $250M

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Rivos, a RISC-V accelerated platform company focusing on data analytics and Generative AI, has raised $250 million in its Series A-3 funding round
Industry

IBM, Canada, and Quebec invest $137M to strengthen semiconductor industry

IBM, the Government of Canada, and the Government of Quebec announced agreements to develop the assembly, testing and packaging capabilities for semiconductor modules at IBM Canada's plant in Bromont, Quebec.
Around the web

Net neutrality is back: U.S. promises fast, safe and reliable internet for all — NPR

Consumers can look forward to faster, safer and more reliable internet connections under the promises of newly reinstated government regulations, writes Emma Bowman of NPR.
AI

AI is ‘a new kind of digital species,’ Microsoft AI chief says — Quartz

Mustafa Suleyman, chief executive of Microsoft AI, said during a talk at TED 2024 that AI is the newest wave of creation since the start of life on Earth, and that “we are in the fastest and most consequential wave ever,” writes Britney Nguyen in Quartz.
Around the web

It’s baaack! Microsoft and IBM open source MS-DOS 4.0 — ZDNet

Microsoft and IBM have joined forces to open-source the 1988 operating system MS-DOS 4.0 under the MIT License, writes Steven Vaughan-Nichols.