Walt Disney Company announced on Friday that it is all set to turnover its Miramax Films division to Filmyard Holdings consortium for a total amount of $US660 million or $A732.56 million, adding that the deal should be finalised by the latter part of 2010 once regulatory approval has been granted.

The company said that the deal would award a group of investors exclusive rights to a total 700 film titles, including some acclaimed movies such as Chicago, Shakespeare in Love and No Country for Old Men.

Also, investors, which include Colony Capital among them, are poised to secure non-movie assets which covered books and upcoming projects that Miramax is presently working on, according to Disney.

Company president and chief executive Robert Iger said that the sale was prompted by Disney's current strategy of concentrating on developing more exciting movies that carry the Disney, Pixar and Marvel brands.

However, Mr Iger maintained that despite the looming separation of Miramax from Disney, the company remains very proud of the film division's numerous accomplishments.

Filmyard consortium representative Ron Tutor expressed happiness over the group's acquisition of Miramax and its renowned film collections, stressing that "we are delighted and honoured as we look forward to sharing this high quality content with the world in every form of media for many years to come."

The announcement came amidst circulating reports that Miramax founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein were interested in re-acquiring the film studio, which they established in 1979, following weeks of speculations on its purported sale and departure from the hugely popular Disney lines.