The transaction announced in August adds 6,500 film and television titles to Lionsgate’s large library; diversifies and strengthens its scripted and unscripted television businesses; extends its portfolio of brands and franchises; and expands its presence in Canada and the U.K. The deal is for $375 million in cash plus the assumption of some production financing loans.
News of the sale — which broke just ahead of Hasbro’s 2Q 2023 earnings call, scheduled for Thursday morning — comes nearly four years to the date when Hasbro announced its intent to acquire eOne in a $3.8 billion deal in August 2019.
A federal judge has officially dismissed a class-action complaint accusing YouTube and other companies of violating children’s privacy, paving the way for an appellate court to intervene in the matter. The legal battle began in 2019, when California resident Nicole Hubbard sued YouTube and various companies that had channels on the video platform — including Hasbro, the Cartoon Network, Mattel, and DreamWorks — for allegedly tracking her 5-year-old child in order to serve targeted ads.
A federal judge has dismissed claims that YouTube, Hasbro, the Cartoon Network and other companies violated children’s privacy by allegedly tracking them in order to serve them with targeted ads. In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose, Calif., said the children’s representatives couldn’t proceed with the case because the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act doesn’t allow for private lawsuits.
Hasbro has completed its $3.8 billion all-cash acquisition of Entertainment One. The merger gives Hasbro access to a pool of valuable international brands, including the wildly popular children’s character Peppa Pig, along with PJ Masks, Clifford the Big Red Dog and the upcoming Ricky Zoom. Those join Hasbro’s already lucrative existing catalog of properties — which includes Transformers, G.I. Joe, Ouija and what it gained last year after buying the remaining stake in the Mark Gordon Co., the independent TV and film studio behind Grey’s Anatomy.
Toymaker Hasbro is acquiring studio Entertainment One in an all-cash transaction valued at $4 billion, bringing My Little Pony and Nerf under the same umbrella as Peppa Pig and PJ Masks and furthering Hasbro’s growth goals in the infant and preschool categories. Hasbro aims to expand its operations in film and TV.
Exclusives
Hasbro Inc, the maker of games ranging from Monopoly to foam Nerf balls, has ended talks to acquire U.S. movie studio and entertainment company Lionsgate Entertainment, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The deal would have given Hasbro a direct pipeline into Hollywood with more movies and TV shows tied to its toy brands.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Hasbro Inc. wants a federal judge to dismiss a $5 million lawsuit filed by a Fox News anchor who says a toy hamster shares her name […]
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — An anchor for Fox News is suing Hasbro for more than $5 million over a toy hamster that shares her name – and possibly even her […]
Hasbro Studios, the Los Angeles-based production and distribution division of Hasbro Inc., has reached a comprehensive programming and marketing agreement with Canadian childrenand family TV broadcaster, Corus Entertainment. The agreement […]
