At closing Disney issued 37.07m shares and made a cash payment of $2.2m. Based upon the closing price of Disney shares on Dec 21 at $50, the transaction had a total value of approximately $4.06bn.

Lucasfilm’s assets famously include the Star Wars and Indiana Jones properties, as well as a host of production, consumer products, animation, visual effects and post production assets such as Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Lucasfilm to the Disney family,” said The Walt Disney Company president and CEO Bob Iger [pictured].

Star Wars is one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time and this transaction combines that world-class content with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses and markets, which we believe will generate growth as well as significant long-term value.”