Hasbro in Talks to Sell Entertainment One to Founder Darren Throop

Etan Vlessing
·2 min read
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Entertainment One founder Darren Throop is in talks with Hasbro to acquire the film and TV production and distribution unit he sold to the toy giant in 2019, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

J.P. Morgan and Centerview Partners led a formal auction for eOne, which has a film and TV library with around 6,500 titles and a branded film and scripted TV business that produces and finances content like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, The Woman King, Yellowjackets and the Rookie franchise. Bloomberg first reported the talks with Throop on Thursday.

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It has emerged Throop has been talking to CVC Capital Partners, a Luxembourg-based private equity firm with other media interests, about bringing financing to the table to reacquire certain assets of eOne. In mid-November 2022, Hasbro first announced it was exploring a possible sale of eOne.

Any sale is likely to see Hasbro retain Peppa Pig and other key properties it gained when the toy maker acquired the Toronto-based indie studio four years ago as part of a $4 billion all-cash transaction.

Hasbro shedding parts of eOne, should a deal be completed, aims to allow the company to focus on branded assets like Peppa Pig, Transformers and Dungeons & Dragons as it looks to become a digital games giant under new CEO Chris Cocks.

Initiating the formal sales process for eOne also follows CEO Throop signaling that he was to leave the Hasbro division at the end of 2022 as he serves out his current employment contract. Hasbro initially acquired eOne to grow the toy maker into a media contender as it combined the indie studio’s film and TV unit with its own.

The idea to become a Hollywood producer à la Marvel Studios was spearheaded by former CEO Brian Goldner, who died in October 2021. The pandemic disrupted that media strategy, with a Hollywood production shutdown and delays in content deliveries as the industry reopened.

Hasbro has now turned its focus to becoming a digital gaming powerhouse after fending off a proxy battle with an activist investor, Alta Fox Capital Management. Any move to sell part or all of eOne to reinvest in fewer, more profitable properties, and to do so with outside partners to reduce costs and risk, has been applauded by Wall Street investors.

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