After a year and a half of unsuccessful searching for buyers in Hollywood, DreamWorks Animations has finally ended up with a potential suitor - SoftBank Corporation, a telecommunications and Internet giant in Japan.

According to an insider reports, SoftBank has offered US$32 per share for the boutique studio DreamWorks Animation which is a 45% premium over the price of shares which means that the value will amount to a total of US$3.4 billion.

Like Us on Facebook

Based on reports, it is a bold move on the part of SoftBank to strike a deal with DreamWorks, two months later after they abandoned their plans to purchase T-Mobile USA. The company has been pursuing ambitious expansion efforts for the past years including an unsuccessful attempt to buy shares from Universal Music Group.

However, despite these claims, DreamWorks animation spokesperson Allison Rawlings said Saturday night that they will not comment about such rumors and speculations.

On the other hand, despite being the smallest movie studio in Hollywood, producing only two to three films every year, it is still considered a very influential company, mainly because it is run by Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is a known figure in the entertainment industry.

For some time, Katzenberg has been looking for possible buyers of shares, but talks with NBC Universal and other companies just went nowhere. Since deciding to be an independent body, the company has pushed for television productions instead.

According to media reports, one reason why the potential buyers refused to obtain the shares is because Katzenberg demanded for quite a high price. Katzenberg allegedly stated that he believes that DreamWorks Animation is worth as much as Pixar Animation Studios, its rival company, with Disney paying US$7.4 billion worth of shares back in 2006.

On a side note, DreamWorks has also suffered from two consecutive quarters of losses. It is said that the company lost US$15.4 million during the quarter that ended on June 30.

TagsDreamWorks Animations