Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B) and Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) recently announced that they have signed an agreement under which Lionsgate will acquire the independent content platform eOne in a transaction valued at approximately $500 million, comprised of cash of $375 million subject to additional purchase price adjustments, and the assumption of production financing loans. This agreement is subject to customary closing conditions.
eOne produces scripted and unscripted television and motion pictures with global distribution and a 6,500-title film and television library. And Under the agreement, Lionsgate will acquire a library with titles like 1917, Atomic Blonde, Green Book, Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Renegade, and Designated Survivor. eOne’s scripted television business is powered by The Rookie TV franchise, now in its sixth season on ABC, the hit spinoff The Rookie: Feds, and the production of Showtime’s horror thriller Yellowjackets. eOne’s unscripted business is led by the long-running hit reality series Naked & Afraid, now in its 11th season on Discovery.
eOne’s film division has a track record of critically-acclaimed films, including last year’s action adventure The Woman King, which debuted to widespread critical acclaim, the Academy Award-nominated The United States v. Billie Holiday, and 1917, eOne’s highest-grossing UK release ever. As part of the deal, Lionsgate also will acquire film development rights to Hasbro’s Monopoly, based on the wildly popular board game. The eOne acquisition will allow Lionsgate to continue to scale its operations in the UK and Canada, where it has recently launched production partnerships with BBC Studios (Ghosts), Channel Four (Motherland), the CBC (Son of A Critch), Rogers’ CityTV (Wong & Winchester) and Bell Media.
The deal was negotiated by COO Brian Goldsmith, EVP & General Counsel Bruce Tobey, EVP Corporate Development Miles Delaney and VP Corporate Development Suzy Felfeli for Lionsgate. Jefferies & Co., Ernst & Young and Sheppard Mullin advised Lionsgate on the transaction.
KEY QUOTE:
“The acquisition of eOne checks off all the boxes in areas that play to our core strengths. It will be immediately and highly accretive, adds a world-class library with thousands of properties, strengthens our scripted and unscripted television business and continues to expand our presence in Canada and the UK. The deal is the culmination of our long-standing relationship with the immensely talented team at eOne, and it continues to build our position as one of the world’s leading independent content platforms with a stockpile of great intellectual properties and a unique, non-replicable portfolio of assets.”
— Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer
