Here is the latest I hear on eOne. Lionsgate and Legendary are still in contention to acquire a majority stake in the indie film and TV studio, which has been put up for sale. I hear there are two other suitors, private equity firm CVC Capital Partners and distributor GoDigital Media Group. Deadline reported a month ago that Fremantle also was among the bidders. According to sources, the indie is no longer pursuing eOne as the target price has climbed up beyond what they were willing to pay for the assets.
I hear the final bids are due by end of the month. Reps for Hasbro, Lionsgate, Legendary, CVC Capital and GoDigital had no comment or didn’t respond to requests for comment.
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The assets that have been put up for sale by the toymaker include all scripted and unscripted TV production (except for the Family Brands division housing such staples as Peppa Pig and PJ Masks), all film production and related global distribution, as well as a 6,500-plus title content library and Hasbro’s interest in eOne’s Canadian film and TV business.
The process has been described by sources as not being very robust. Its current stage would fit into the time frame Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks provided in February.
“We expect to have an update in the second quarter,” he said at the time.
Hasbro bought eOne in 2019 for $4 billion when the company was divided into three divisions: Music, which has been sold; Family Brands, which Hasbro has rolled into its brands licensing and merchandising operation; and Film and TV. Hasbro previously sold eOne’s music business to private equity firm Blackstone in 2021 for $385 million.
The pursuit of eOne is driven largely by potential buyers’ interest in acquiring revenue and library titles.
In announcing a $760 million equity investment in Legendary a year ago, Apollo Private Equity partners Aaron Sobel and Lee Solomon noted that “we also see compelling M&A opportunities ahead,” indicating that they would be seeking to beef up the indie studio by asset acquisitions. Buying eOne would fit into that.
Lionsgate Entertainment, whose Vice Chairman Michael Burns sits on the Hasbro board, is in the process of separating its film and TV studio from Starz. That deal is expected to be completed by the end of its fiscal second quarter in September.
As Lionsgate is facing a future as a rare pure-play content company post-spinoff, the studio, with its 18,000-title library, is looking to bulk up in order to gain leverage in a competitive marketplace.
Luxembourg-based CVC Capital Partners is one of the top five private equity companies in the world. It was a majority owner of Formula One; its portfolio includes The Women’s Tennis Association, Spanish soccer league La Liga and the United Rugby Championship.
GoDigital Media Group’s interest in eOne is surprising many because of the company’s profile to date. Founded in 2006, it is a specialist in IP rights management and, as its name suggest, has been active in digital film and music distribution.
Toronto-based eOne is behind recent films like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, The Fabelmans and The Woman King and series like Yellowjackets and The Rookie franchise. Through the 2019 acquisition of the Mark Gordon Company, the studio took over the producer’s interest in TV juggernauts like Grey’s Anatomy and Criminal Minds. Additionally, eOne continues to distribute third-party titles.
Peter White and Dade Hayes contributed to this report.
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