Deals

Snoopy moves in with the Teletubbies at DHX Media

• Bookmarks: 1


DHX Media Ltd is buying the entertainment unit of Iconix Brand Group Inc for $345 million, adding the Peanuts comic strip and cartoon character Strawberry Shortcake to its roster of brands that includes “Bob the Builder” and “Teletubbies”.

Iconix shares were up 16 percent at $8.12, while Toronto-listed shares of DHX were down 5.9 percent at $5.60 in morning trading.

Reuters reported in January that Iconix was exploring a sale of its majority stake in Peanuts Worldwide LLC, which owns the rights to cartoon strip characters Snoopy and Charlie Brown.

Debt-ridden Iconix started exploring a sale of the brand after U.S. insurer MetLife Inc dropped the Peanuts characters it had been using as mascots for more than 30 years.

The characters — which also include Lucy, Linus and Woodstock — were created by Charles Schulz and are licensed in over 100 countries.

DHX Media will be buying an 80 percent stake in the Peanuts brand. The remaining 20 percent will continue to be held by members of the Schulz family, DHX said on Wednesday.

While MetLife stopped flying blimps featuring Snoopy this year, Peanuts has agreements with brands such as stationery company Hallmark Cards Inc, retailer Zara and film studio Warner Bros.

In 2015, Twenty-First Century Fox Inc released “The Peanuts Movie”, which was nominated for a Golden Globe award and grossed $246 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, a website that tracks the revenue that movies generate.

Iconix was also looking to sell its Strawberry Shortcake brand, which is based on a character that rose to fame in the 1980s as a doll for young girls, Reuters reported in January.

Strawberry Shortcake, bought by Iconix in 2015, has over 350 licenses.

DHX had entered into a long-term agreement last year to co-develop and co-produce a new animated series based on Strawberry Shortcake.

Wednesday’s deal value will be financed through a combination of cash on hand, new debt financing facility and a private placement offering of subscription receipts exchangeable for convertible debentures, DHX said.

DHX Media said the deal would be 6 percent to 10 percent accretive to earnings per share, on a pro forma basis.

Jefferies LLC is acting as lead financial adviser to DHX. Canaccord Genuity, RBC Capital Markets and Deutsche Bank served as financial advisers.

Bryan Cave, Andrews Kurth & Kenyon, Stikeman Elliott, Stewart McKelvey, and Troutman Sanders provided legal counsel.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru- Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

comments icon0 comments
0 notes
53 views
bookmark icon

Write a comment...

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *