After just three years, Hasbro sells eOne

In the name of a new business model the Company will sell the business unit

It was December 2019 when, for the price of 3.8 billion dollars, Hasbro officially acquired the American filmmaking colossus. With a library of more than 6.000 titles, and IPs the likes of Peppa Pig among them, eOne was an extremely palatable business venture for Hasbro, also coming with the possibility of internally developing content for all its properties.

After the buyout Hasbro encountered several internal difficulties in the managing of the newly acquired eOne. The intention to sell was communicated directly by Hasbro itself after contacting their partner JP. MORGAN for consulting. This interest in selling the acquired company, though at the same time still keeping some of its original most lucrative properties.
The group intends infact to invest in key brands/IPs, such as Peppa Pig, Transformers, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: the Gathering, My Little Pony, Power Rangers and Play-Doh, as well as the Monopoly and Cluedo board games. “The Company intends to maintain significant development, production and financing capabilities to support its core brands across feature films, TV, animation and digital shorts,” the statement read.

This change of programme has to be contextualised in the greater plan of the new Hasbro CEO: Chris Cocks. The goal is for Hasbro’s investments to be more precise and directed at IPs already in the company’s possessions. Hasbro has plans of growing their revenue of 50% in the next three years, and if they want to achieve that, they first have to make their IPs bloom.

Last but not least: a turnaround. Even though at the beginning the company saw the possibility of selfproducing entertainment content internally, it now opts for the opposite route. We can expect to see Hasbro’s licences partnered with many players around the entertainment market in the future.