Japan’s SoftBank in talks to acquire DreamWorks in billion dollar deal

Japan’s SoftBank Corp is in talks to acquire DreamWorks Animation, the Hollywood studio behind the Shrek and Madagascar movie hits, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

An acquisition of DreamWorks by SoftBank would make it part of a cash-rich Japanese communications and media company that, under founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son, has shown a willingness to take big bets on combining disparate businesses.

The talks were first reported by the Hollywood Reporter, which quoted an unidentified source as saying a buyout would value DreamWorks at $3.4bn (€2.6bn).