The Canadian-American mass media and entertainment company, Lionsgate, has officially acquired the Entertainment One film and television division owned previously by toy giant Hasbro. Well-known IP like “Peppa Pig,” “Transformers,” “Dungeons & Dragons,” “Magic: The Gathering,” “My Little Pony,” “Power Rangers,” “Play-Doh,” and “Clue” were left out of the deal with Lionsgate while the film development rights to “Monopoly” are included. In advance of the merger closing, Lionsgate fired 10% of eOne’s employees in December.
“The eOne acquisition concludes a busy year in which we continued to execute our strategy of strengthening our studio business as we prepare for the separation of Lionsgate and Starz into pure play standalone companies,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said. With this deal, Lionsgate’s library will grow by 6,500 film and television titles, including the smash show “Yellowjackets” on Showtime, the series “Naked & Afraid” on Discovery, and ABC’s “The Rookie.”
Unveiled in late 2022, Hasbro’s Blueprint 2.0 strategy directs the company to focus investment on its “most valuable franchises across toys, games, entertainment, and licensing” while implementing an Operational Excellence program that will save $250–$300 million in run rate costs over the next three years. This sale “underscores Hasbro’s Blueprint 2.0 strategy,” according to the press release.
As reported by Fandom Pulse in December, eOne was sold for a purchase price of $375 million in cash, subject to certain purchase price adjustments and the assumption by Lionsgate of production financing loans. The company also noted that it expects to pay off approximately $400 million of floating-rate debt with the sale. Hasbro stated in its announcement that it will “continue to develop and produce entertainment based on its rich vault of Hasbro brands” as part of its overall strategy.
As stated by Casey Collins, president of Hasbro’s licensed consumer products, “laser focus on the central growth areas for Hasbro was one of the main tenets of Blueprint 2.0.“, which might have contributed to the company’s decision to forgo its film and television investments as well.
Amidst ongoing challenges in the industry, Hasbro terminated about 1,100 employees this last December. The toymaker has seen some improvements as a result of a retooled supply chain and improved inventory, but the market’s volatility “have proven to be stronger and more persistent than planned,” CEO Chris Cocks wrote in a Christmas memo to staff. Approximately 800 workers were let go by Hasbro last June under the same reasons.
Insiders, including investors, who have been monitoring the company’s toy portfolio’s shortcomings for some time, are probably not surprised by the news. In the meantime, both the amount of money made and the number of players participating in the Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering brands are at all-time highs for Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast. Activist hedge fund Alta Fox attempted in June 2022 to force the Rhode Island-based company to spin off Wizards, but the effort was unsuccessful.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Hasbro’s stock has dropped by about 20% so far last year. Cocks earned a reported $9.4 million in 2023.
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