Lionsgate on Wednesday closed its $375 million acquisition of Entertainment One from Hasbro, the studio announced in a statement.
The acquisition includes 6,500 film and television titles. Entertainment One productions include the ABC procedural "The Rookie" and Showtime drama "Yellowjackets." In the deal, Lionsgate also acquired film rights to the board game Monopoly and assumed various production loans.
"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," said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. "As we've conducted our integration planning, our analysis has reaffirmed our conviction that eOne will be a valuable and highly accretive addition to our business. We are pleased to welcome eOne's talented group of employees to our Lionsgate family."
The Power Rangers library and other series tied to Hasbro brands remain with the toymaker. In 2020, Jonathan Entwistle ("The End of the F***ing World," "I Am Not Okay With This") joined Entertainment One to oversee to-be-announced film and television projects in the Power Rangers universe. In June, Jenny Klein ("Jessica Jones," "The Thing About Pam") signed on to serve as showrunner of an upcoming Power Rangers television series.
Hasbro acquired Entertainment One in a blockbuster $4 billion deal in 2019, but its entertainment strategies changed following COVID-19 and the death of CEO Brian Goldner, as well as supply chain issues and weakened toy sales. CEO Chris Cocks opted to pivot away from in-house production and toward partnerships with other studios.
Though the sale price on the surface represents a steep discount from the price Hasbro paid in 2019, it does not reflect assets Hasbro had already parted with or intends to keep. For example, Hasbro will retain the rights to beloved preschool character Peppa Pig.
In the months since the sale was first announced, Hasbro peeled off a trio of eOne executives to helm its new Hasbro Entertainment division.
Jefferies & Co., Sheppard Mullin and Denton's Canada LLP advised Lionsgate on the transaction.
