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Los Angeles.- Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment announced an agreement to acquire the 41% that the Canadian company WildBrain owns of the 'Peanuts' brand, the franchise of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, as reported by the company in a statement.
Sony will pay 630 million Canadian dollars to WildBrain for the 41% stake, equivalent to approximately 457 million dollars.
According to the document, the agreement has already been signed, but the closing of the transaction is subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Once the transaction is finalized, Sony Music and Sony Pictures will control 80% of Peanuts Holdings LLC, which will become a consolidated subsidiary of the Sony Group.
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"The family members of Charles M. Schulz, creator of 'Peanuts', will continue to own the remaining 20%," the statement says.
The ownership of the Peanuts rights and the management of its business will continue to be handled by Peanuts Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Peanuts Holdings LLC.
Since 2018, when Sony acquired a stake in Peanuts Holdings LLC, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) has driven the expansion of the business and the strengthening of the 'Peanuts' brand, considered a top-tier intellectual property.
"With this additional participation, we are excited to be able to further increase the value of the 'Peanuts' brand by leveraging the extensive global network and collective experience of the Sony Group," said Shunsuke Muramatsu, president and CEO of the Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) group.
"Sony has been an excellent partner for the 'PEANUTS' brand for many years, and we are confident that Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the gang are in good hands with them," wrote Josh Scherba, president and chief executive officer of WildBrain.
According to the agreement, WildBrain will remain linked to the franchise for several years as a strategic partner, acting as the exclusive licensing agent for consumer products in various territories.
In addition, it will continue as an exclusive production studio for new brand content, including the feature film already announced in partnership with Apple TV, a renewed agreement until 2030, and will maintain the distribution of this content, as well as the management of the official Snoopy YouTube channel.
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On October 2nd, 'Peanuts', the comic strip that tells the adventures of Snoopy and his friend Charlie Brown, celebrated 75 years since its large-scale publication.
AppleTV + hosts the collection of Peanuts classics since 2020, although its collaboration with the Schulz heirs to broadcast original content began in 2018.
