Comcast's NBCUniversal said on Thursday that it will buy DreamWorks Animation for $41 per share. Shares of DreamWorks soared 24 percent in early trading Thursday, hitting a fresh 52-week intraday high. Comcast shares were flat after the announcement. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2016. Comcast is the parent company NBCUniversal and CNBC.

DreamWorks was a Pixar competitor that was never quite able to match the stardom that Steve Jobs was able to bring to the brand. Steve Jobs was the majority shareholder of Pixar when the company was sold to Disney back in 2006 for $7.4 billion.

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