Lionsgate Closes eOne Acquisition for $375 Million

Jennifer Maas
·2 min read

Lionsgate closed its $375 million acquisition of studio Entertainment One (eOne) from toy company Hasbro Wednesday.

The deal adds 6,500 film and television titles to Lionsgate’s existing library, including Showtime hit “Yellowjackets,” ABC’s “The Rookie” and Discovery’s “Naked & Afraid” franchise.

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The sale is subject to purchase price adjustments, plus Lionsgate’s assumption of production financing loans for eOne projects.

In August, Lionsgate struck a deal to purchase eOne‘s TV and film operations from Hasbro for $500 million. The sale news came nearly four years to the date when Hasbro announced their intent to acquire eOne in a $3.8 billion deal in August 2019.

Earlier this month, Lionsgate laid off 10% of eOne’s workforce in preparation for the merger closing. Cuts previously hit eOne in June, when Hasbro reduced the studio’s staff by 20% amid its plan to sell the asset.

Popular IP excluded from the sale to Lionsgate includes “Peppa Pig,” “Transformers,” “Dungeons & Dragons,” “Magic: The Gathering,” “My Little Pony,” “Power Rangers,” “Play-Doh” and “Clue.” (The merger does include film development rights for “Monopoly.”)

“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,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said. “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.”

Lionsgate was advised on the transaction by Jefferies & Co., Sheppard Mullin and Denton’s Canada LLP.

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