Minions and Shrek Now Under One Roof as Comcast Buys DreamWorks for $3.8 Billion

Confirming earlier reports, cable giant Comcast announced today that its subsidiary, NBC Universal, is buying DreamWorks Animation. The company is paying $3.8 billion to acquire the company behind Shrek and Kung-Fu Panda, which had been one of the biggest Hollywood film companies not owned by a larger firm.

DreamWorks Animation will be folded into NBC Universal's Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. This already includes Jurassic Park and Warcraft producer Universal Pictures, as well as movie ticket-seller Fandango.

In a statement, NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke said acquiring DreamWorks Animation will help the company "grow our film, television, theme parks, and consumer products businesses for years to come."

Buying DreamWorks Animation may help Comcast better compete with Disney in the family entertainment sector with its catalog of IP, which also includes franchises like How to Train Your Dragon and Madagascar. For its part, some of Universal's hit animated movie series include Despicable Me and Minions.

Comcast's acquisition of DreamWorks Animation is expected to close by the end of 2016, after an approval process from agencies in the US and abroad.

Also as part of the deal, NBC Universal gets everything in the DreamWorks Classics library, including characters and franchises like Where's Waldo and Rudolph the Red-Noised Reindeer. NBC Universal also picks up DreamWorks Animation's consumer products business.

DreamWorks Animation CEO and co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg will transition to the role of chairman of what's being called DreamWorks New Media. In this post, Katzenberg will oversee the company's endeavors in two of its subsidiaries, Awesomeness TV and NOVA, while he will also be a consultant to NBC Universal.

Katzenberg had been trying for years to sell DreamWorks Animation. This deal is a boon for investors, it seems, as DreamWorks Animation had a reported market value of $2.3 billion, meaning Comcast paid a huge premium.

"I am proud to say that NBC Universal is the perfect home for our company; a home that will embrace the legacy of our storytelling and grow our businesses to their fullest potential," Katzenberg said in a statement.

As mentioned, DreamWorks Animation had been of the last major studios not owned by a bigger company. In 2004, the company spun off from DreamWorks SKG, a wider entertainment firm founded in 1994 by Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg, and David Geffen. Comcast's buyout reportedly reunites the companies.

In other news about DreamWorks Animation, the company is working with Netflix on new content, including a Voltron reboot and a show called Trollhunters from Guillermo del Toro.