Lionsgate Has Purchased eOne From Hasbro For $500 Million

Entertainment One's TV and film units went up for sale in November

It’s official, Hasbro has agreed to sell Entertainment One aka eOne’s TV and film business to Lionsgate for $500 million. Breaking in the hours before Hasbro’s Q2 earnings call, it was approved by both companies’ Board of Directors but won’t be officially completed until it’s been approved by the various countries’ business regulation bodies.

Lionsgate had been leading the pack of potential buyers for weeks, after Hasbro put eOne up for sale in November. To be clear, this encompasses non-Hasbro branded film and scripted TV business producing and financing content like The Woman King, Yellowjackets, Cruel Summer, The Rookie and its spinoff The Rookie Feds, the stake in Entertainment One Canada Limited’s Canadian film and TV business, which includes The Spencer Sisters which will air this fall on The CW, and Hasbro’s unscripted division, which includes the Naked and Afraid franchise. The sale comes as a result of reviewing their business strategies, namely committing to significantly increasing investment in the company’s priority brands, like Transformers, GI Joe, Peppa Pig, My Little Pony, Magic the Gathering, Power Rangers, Play-Doh and Dungeons & Dragons.

“This sale fully aligns with our strategy, and we are pleased to bring the process to a successful close,” said Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks. “Lionsgate’s management team is experienced in entertainment and adept at driving value, and we’re glad to have found such a good home for our eOne film & TV business. We look forward to partnering with them, especially on a movie adaptation of Monopoly.”

Cocks elaborated: “Entertainment remains a priority for Hasbro. Hasbro will continue to develop and produce entertainment based on the rich vault of Hasbro-owned brands. We will also bring to life new original ideas designed to fuel all areas of Hasbro’s blueprint including toys, publishing, gaming, licensed consumer products, and location-based entertainment. As part of the sale, we expect to move to an asset-lite model for future live action entertainment, relying on licensing and partnerships with select co-productions.”

Hasbro bought eOne for $4 billion in 2019, and this sale will also be subject to certain purchase price adjustments, and the assumption by Lionsgate of production financing loans. It will use the proceeds to retire a minimum of $400 million of floating rate debt by the end of the year.

Source: Hasbro