Happiness is taking management of a beloved sketch.
Sony is shopping for a 41% stake within the Charles M. Schulz comedian “Peanuts” and its characters together with Snoopy and Charlie Brown from Canada’s WildBrain in a $457 million deal, the 2 corporations mentioned Friday.
The deal provides to Sony’s current 39% stake, bringing its shareholding to 80%, in keeping with a joint assertion. The Schulz household will proceed to personal the remaining 20%.
“With this extra possession stake, we’re thrilled to have the ability to additional elevate the worth of the ‘Peanuts’ model by drawing on the Sony Groupʼs in depth world community and collective experience,” Sony Music Leisure President Shunsuke Muramatsu mentioned.
“Peanuts” made its debut Oct. 2, 1950 in seven newspapers. The travails of the “little round-headed child” Charlie Brown and friends, together with Linus, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, and his pet beagle Snoopy, ultimately expanded to greater than 2,600 newspapers, reaching hundreds of thousands of readers in 75 international locations.
The strip affords enduring pictures of kites caught in bushes, Charlie Brown making an attempt to kick a soccer, tart-tongued Lucy handing out recommendation for a nickel, and Snoopy taking the occasional flight of fancy to the skies. Phrases resembling “safety blanket,” “good grief” and “happiness is a heat pet” are part of the worldwide vernacular. Schulz died in 2000.
Sony acquired its first stake in Peanuts Holdings LLC in 2018 from Toronto-based WildBrain Ltd. In Friday’s transaction, Sony’s music and film arms signed a “definitive settlement” with WildBrain to purchase its remaining stake for $630 million Canadian {dollars} ($457 million).
Rights to the “Peanuts” model and administration of its enterprise are dealt with by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Peanuts Holdings.
WildBrain additionally owns different children’ leisure franchises, together with Strawberry Shortcake and Teletubbies.
