Hasbro Completes Their Acquisition of Entertainment One Records Ltd. (eOne)

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In a story we reported several months ago, Hasbro has completed their acquisition of Entertainment One (eOne Records, eOne Heavy) and their properties. The move adds more global brands to Hasbro’s cadre of entertainment offerings. Originally founded as music distributor Records on Wheels in 1970, but today has a plethora of well-known music, film, and television brands. eOne’s music offerings includes the libraries of Artemis Records, Death Row Records, and Dualtone Records as well as Grammy winners High on Fire, Snoop Dogg, Wu-Tang Clan, Zakk Wyle’s Black Label Society, Crowbar, Ace Frehley, The Blue Stones, Arkells, The Bloody Beetroots, Lights, The Game, Teagan and Sara and more.

“We are excited about what we can do together and see tremendous opportunity for shareholder value creation through this acquisition,” said Brian Goldner, Hasbro chairman and chief executive officer. “Our businesses are highly complementary with substantial synergies and a great cultural fit. The addition of eOne accelerates our blueprint strategy by expanding our brand portfolio with eOne’s beloved global preschool brands, adding proven TV and film expertise, and creating additional opportunities for long-term profitable growth. We are pleased to welcome the incredibly talented eOne team to our Company.”

Darren Throop, president and chief executive officer of eOne, will report to Goldner. In addition, eOne’s Olivier Dumont, president, family & brands, Steve Bertram, president, film & television, and Chris Taylor, global president, music, will also be joining Hasbro, reporting to Throop.

The all-cash transaction is valued at approximately £2.9 billion, based on the consideration of £5.60 per common share of eOne. Converted at a rate of 1.31 USD/GBP on December 30, 2019, the total cash consideration was approximately US$3.8 billion. Hasbro also expects to redeem eOne’s outstanding senior secured notes and to pay off the debt outstanding under eOne’s revolving credit facility, which together represent approximately £0.6 billion of eOne’s indebtedness.