Hasbro Inc., the American multinational conglomerate, is looking at opportunities to sell its media division. The company wants to sell most of the business of Entertainment One after many buyers showed interest, according to CEO Chris Cocks.
In an interview, Cocks said the division has a good market valuation and a nice cash flow. Cocks declined to reveal the possible sale price of the eOnedivision.
The business segment up for sale includes eOne’s TV and Film production and a library with about 6,500 titles, including afraid and Naked. It has a distribution arm for shows such as “the Walking Dead.” The eOne division accounted for 16% of the company’s total revenue amounting to $1 billion.
Redeploy Free Funds
Cocks said that the cash generated from the sale would be deployed at fewer and better brands they could scale up. This would mean reinvesting in the games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, direct-to-consumer business, and other blockbuster films apart from repaying the company’s debt.
The producers of Transformer toys and G.I. Joe action products have hired Centerview Partners and JPMorgan & Chase Co to lead the sale process. The company confirmed the development Thursday after an earlier Bloomberg News reported interest from potential buyers.
The largest toymaker in the US, Hasbro Inc., saw its share rise to $58.42, up 4.4% at close Thursday in New York.
Based out of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Hasbro Inc. spends $ 700 million on TV shows and films through its eOne media division. The company wants to reinvent this and move towards making games franchisees and toys.
The company intends to keep the assets of eOne, which it considers crucial after the sale. This includes the Children’s brand, Peppa Pig. It will also retain a team of employees from the eOne division for its animation, TV shows, short digital films, and movie projects.
Increased Spending on Brands
Chief Executive Officer Cocks told investors at an event last month that Hasbro will triple its spending on media content over the next three years, depending on their brands. The blue chips in the company’s portfolio include the board games of Dungeons & Dragons that Hasbro has adopted into the movie Dungeons & Dragons- Honor among thieves. The film will be released in March.
Bloomberg reported in August that Hasbro was planning a restructuring or selling its eOne division which it purchased in 2019 for $4 billion. Hasbro Inc. generated revenue for all its business of 6.42 billion in 2021. Currently, the market capitalization of the company stands at $8.07 billion. The company sold the music business of eOne last year to PE firm Blackstone Inc. for $385 million.
