Hasbro snaps up all intellectual property, category rights, and content libraries owned by Saban Properties and its affiliates for $522 million—including entertainment brands Power Rangers, My Pet Monster, Popples, Julius Jr., Luna Petunia, Treehouse Detectives, and certain others. The offer is subject to a number of closing conditions, including obtaining required regulatory approvals, and is expected to close during Q2 2018.
According to TLL’s $100 Million Entertainment/Character list, Saban’s Power Rangers generated over $360 million in licensed retail sales worldwide in 2016. Earlier this year, Saban stated that its Power Rangers franchise boasted more than 150 licensees globally. The first set of product from Hasbro will be available in North America spring 2019; international markets will be aligned to television programming launches, rolling out throughout 2019.
Hasbro is paying up $229.75 million in cash, crediting another $22.25 million previously paid pursuant to the Power Rangers master toy license agreement set to begin in 2019, and will issue $270 million worth of Hasbro common stock.
It is unclear how talent will be distributed in the aftermath of the deal. Haim Saban, founder of Saban Brands and creator of Power Rangers, will provide transitional and consulting services to Hasbro with his company.
Hasbro sales declined over $133 million in Q1 2018 from the same period a year ago, writing off $59 million in bad debt from Toys ‘R’ Us. Troubled sales in the U.K. were in part compounded by Brexit. On the plus side, Hasbro believes it has fully accounted for the bad debt, although it expects to see sales impacts into 2019. And the toyco’s entertainment and licensing segment net revenues increased 21% to $64.0 million, thanks in part to gains from Monopoly, Marvel, Beyblade, Dungeons and Dragons, and Littlest Pet Shop.
For the same period, Mattel saw worldwide gross sales decline 15%, with declines in North America and Europe partially offset by a 17% gain in Asia Pacific and 4% bump in Latin America. In particular, its core brands Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Fisher-Price did reasonably well, although the broader entertainment business was down 27% as reported and in constant currency compared to Q1 2017.
Jakks Pacific reported a net loss of $36.2 million for Q1, also citing TRU for losses and sales disruption. Nevertheless, the toyco reported strong growth in sales for Incredibles 2, Tangled, Disguise Costumes (Halloween sales were up by 20%), Squish-Dee-Lish, DC toddler dolls, and tween cosmetic brand C’est Moi. Its sales declined just 2% from the previous year, and actually are by 3% in the U.S. Poor sellers included Beauty and the Beast, Moana, Smurfs, and Tsum Tsum.