After a years end to forget in 2023, where Hasbro cut 20% of its workforce – approximately 1,100 jobs – following a tough year in the toy marketplace, the company have now sold their Entertainment One film and television business to Lionsgate for $375m, effectively clearing roughly $400m in ‘floating rate debt‘. Gifts and Decorative Accesories take a closer look at the current lay of the land.
Sold for a purchase price of $375 million in cash – subject to certain purchase price adjustments and the assumption by Lionsgate of production financing loans – the announcement “underscores Hasbro’s Blueprint 2.0 strategy,” per a release, and the company noted that it anticipates retiring approximately $400 million of floating rate debt with the sale. Also part of its strategy, Hasbro said in its announcement that the company will “continue to develop and produce entertainment based on its rich vault of Hasbro brands.”
J.P. Morgan and Centerview Partners served as lead financial advisors to Hasbro in the transaction. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, Mayer Brown International LLP and Stikeman Elliott LLP acted as legal counsel to Hasbro and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP acted as legal counsel to Entertainment One Canada Limited. The sale to Lionsgate includes unscripted television production companies Renegade and Daisybeck, as well as Hasbro’s interest in the Canadian film and television operations of Entertainment One Canada Limited.
