Genius Brands International, Inc. will acquire US$53million in cash and stock from WOW! Unlimited Media. “I’m excited to work with Andy and the Genius Brands team. This is a powerful partnership that brings immediate and significant value for shareholders," Michael Hirsh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of WOW!, said. "We bring production capacity, new IP, and a robust and profitable YouTube Network with over a billion views per month. Genius Brands, with Kartoon Channel!, has a fully distributed footprint where our content can thrive and also help Kartoon Channel! itself expand."
The company hosted a meeting yesterday to discuss the transaction in detail. Its deal with the Toronto-based animation production compay will place it in the same caliber as the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sony, Hulu, Dreamworks, Moonbug, Peacock and Mattel. Based on the last twelve months (LTM) from July 2020-June 2021, the Company’s revenue and EBITDA amounted to US$56.4million and US$5.1 million respectively, and its growing order book has over $62 million dollars of contracted production in the next year alone. "Genius Brands’ world class consumer product licensing team led by Kerry Phelan, will enable us to monetize all of these great characters and brands," Hirsh continued. "This transaction represents the culmination of our extensive strategic review process. We feel that this is a very attractive opportunity for our shareholders with significant potential upside in the months and years ahead.”
WOW!’s Canadian production facilities enable a number of profitable synergies for the company via access to various federal and provincial tax credits, which will allow Genius Brands to transfer its current animation production at great savings from China. Heyward added, “In addition to WOW!’s 3rd party service production, we will now place many of the exciting upcoming WOW! owned content on Kartoon Channel! and activate it through our consumer products and global distribution sales network, further advancing revenues and earnings.”
“The acquisition of WOW! substantially accelerates the financial growth of Genius Brands, delivering on our promise to shareholders to execute meaningful and accretive acquisitions, as we seek to rapidly consolidate the marketplace and become the foremost producer, broadcaster, and consumer product licensor of high-quality children’s entertainment in the world," Andy Heyward, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Genius Brands, said.