Toy Giant Hasbro Completes $3.8B eOne Acquisition

Toy giant Hasbro announced this week that it has completed its acquisition of Entertainment One.

The all-cash deal has been valued at $3.8 billion USD. The acquisition comes with a few executive shuffles.

Darren Throop, president and CEO of eOne, will now report to Brian Goldner, Hasbro Chairman and CEO, while eOne’s Olivier Dumont, president, family & brands, Steve Bertram, president, film & television, and Chris Taylor, global president, music, will also be joining Hasbro, reporting to Throop.

eOne’s musical assets include Death Row Records (Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur), Dualtone Music Group (The Lumineers) and Last Gang Entertainment. The company also owns controlling stakes in the catalogs of Wu Tang Clan, Chuck Berry and more. eOne’s non-musical assets include hugely popular kids’ TV shows including Peppa Pig and PJ Masks, among others.

Goldner said: “We are excited about what we can do together and see tremendous opportunity for shareholder value creation through this acquisition. Our businesses are highly complementary with substantial synergies and a great cultural fit. The addition of eOne accelerates our blueprint strategy by expanding our brand portfolio with eOne’s beloved global preschool brands, adding proven TV and film expertise, and creating additional opportunities for long-term profitable growth. We are pleased to welcome the incredibly talented eOne team to our Company.”

• CelebrityAccess