CMA investigates Hasbro’s eOne takeover
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has launched a preliminary investigation into Hasbro’s planned acquisition of London Stock Exchange-listed Entertainment One (eOne).
Hasbro, the US toy/board game giant whose brands include Monopoly, Transformers, My Little Pony, GI Joe and Power Rangers, announced in August it would pay US$4 billion dollars to take control of eOne, the Canada-based TV, film and music company.
Eone’s biggest brand is children’s TV franchise Peppa Pig, though it also has a robust music portfolio, including live production outfit Round Room Entertainment, labels Dualtone, Death Row and Last Gang Records and artist management company People’s Champ.
The CMA says it is considering whether the acquisition would substantially reduce competition “within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services”.
The competition watchdog is inviting comments on the proposed deal until 5 December, with the deadline for its ‘phase-1’ decision set for 21 January 2020.
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Hasbro to acquire Entertainment One
Hasbro, the US toy/board game giant whose brands include Monopoly, Transformers, My Little Pony, GI Joe and Power Rangers, has announced its acquisition of Entertainment One (eOne), the Canada-based, London Stock Exchange-listed TV, film and music company.
While Hasbro’s PR largely focuses on eOne’s TV properties, including all-conquering children’s TV colossus Peppa Pig, the all-cash transaction, worth US$4 billion (£3.3bn), also sees the company acquire eOne’s music businesses, including live production outfit Round Room Entertainment, labels Dualtone, Death Row and Last Gang Records and management firm People’s Champ.
Rhode Island-based Hasbro says the acquisition will “strengthen Hasbro’s end-to-end ability to monetise and bring to market its IP in increasingly attractive new formats, including over-the-top (OTT) and premium platforms, music, location-based entertainment, AR and VR”.
“Hasbro’s portfolio of integrated toy, game and consumer products will further fuel the tremendous success we’ve achieved at eOne”
“Hasbro’s portfolio of integrated toy, game and consumer products will further fuel the tremendous success we’ve achieved at eOne,” says Darren Throop, Entertainment One’s CEO. “There’s a strong cultural fit between our two companies: eOne’s stated mission is to unlock the power and value of creativity, which aligns with Hasbro’s corporate objectives.
“EOne teams will continue to do what they do best, bolstered by the access to Hasbro’s extensive portfolio of richly creative IP and merchandising strength. In addition, the resulting expanded Hasbro presence in Canada through eOne’s deep roots will bring world-class talent and production capabilities to Hasbro. Along with our leadership team, I look forward to working with Hasbro on our joint growth and success for many years to come.”
Entertainment One’s share price climbed by nearly 30% in early trading on Friday (23 August) morning.
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eOne moves into live entertainment with Round Room buy
Multinational entertainment company Entertainment One (eOne), whose portfolio includes TV, film production and distribution, artist management and recorded music/publishing divisions, has added live entertainment production to its product offering with the acquisition of New York-based Round Room Entertainment.
Round Room, which focuses on live entertainment for family content and special events, has worked on tours by the Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand and Oprah Winfrey, as well as Broadway productions including Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and Rock of Ages.
The acquisition follows the two companies’ successful collaboration on the PJ Masks Live tour, based on eOne’s animated children’s programme PJ Masks and produced by Round Room, which completed its initial run of US dates in late 2017, selling more than 150,000 tickets. The tour continues in 2018 with dates in Australia and the US.
The company will continue to be led by co-presidents Stephen Shaw and Jonathan Linden, who formerly worked under Michael Cohl at Concert Productions International, Live Nation and S2BN Entertainment. Both will report to Chris Taylor, eOne’s head of music.
“We look forward to working closely with Chris and his team to connect his extensive roster of artists with countless fans around the world”
“Across all areas of music, we work with so many spokes on the wheel, and live entertainment is such an important one,” says Taylor. Adding Round Room to our team, with Stephen and Jonathan at the helm, is going to provide the capacity to expand the reach of our brands, touch more fans on a global scale and further elevate our management roster.”
“We are very excited to join eOne and become a part of their global family while continuing to grow our core roster,” adds Shaw. “This is a very strategic move for both sides, and we look forward to working closely with Chris and his team to connect his extensive roster of artists with countless fans around the world.”
Entertainment One’s music roster, which comprises its record labels, a management operation and a distribution arm, includes CKY, BadBadNotGood, Death from Above 1979, the Game, Ghostface Killah, Snoop Dogg, Black Label Society, the Lumineers and Waka Flocka Flame. Across all divisions, the company turned over nearly US$1.1bn in 2017.
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