Disney Has a New Rival in Bid for Maker Studios

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Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse at the premiere of World of Color water show at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, June 10, 2010. Disney's offer for Maker Studios has generated a counterbid from Relativity Media.

Image: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

By Todd Wasserman2014-04-14 13:56:15 UTC

Disney's acquisition of Maker Studios, the YouTube-centric production company, is getting messy, according to various reports.

Relativity Media, a mid-size film and television production and distribution company, has offered Maker a counterbid of $500 million in stock, with a bonus of another $400 million in stock conditional on achieving certain financial targets, according to The Wall Street Journal .

See also: Disney's Doing Great, So Why Buy a Bunch of YouTube Channels?

In addition to that $900 million, the deal is said to include a $100 million bonus pool for talent and executives.

"Relativity's proposal fully values Maker Studios while providing its shareholders far more upside potential for growth than the Disney offer," Maker said in a statement Sunday, according to the publication.

That would narrowly edged Disney's offer of $500 million in cash with $450 million available if Disney's financial targets are met.

In addition to the counterbid, Disney's acquisition has also been complicated by a lawsuit from Danny Zappin, co-founder and ex-CEO of Maker, and three other former executives. They are seeking to block the shareholder vote that is scheduled for Tuesday, April 15.

The lawsuit follows on earlier legal action from Zappin and the former executives over his exit from the company.

The counter from Relativity highlights the growing interest from traditional media in studios that have begun to find success producing short-form content for sites like YouTube. Maker recently licensed content from Bart Barker, one of its breakout talents, with television channel Music Choice.

The counteroffer has a ways to go to beat out Disney. Maker's board would need to decide if the offer from Relativity was tempting, which it could very well not be since Disney's offer includes a significant chunk of cash.

Disney's previous deal with Maker could also thwart Relativity's offer. A source indicated to the Journal that its agreement with Maker is binding.

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Topics: Business, disney, Maker Studios, YouTube