Last August, the American company Hasbro announced the purchase of studio Entertainment One in its entirety. Eone, as it is commonly known, owns, among other contents, global phenomena “Peppa Pig” and other renowned children cartoons like “PJ Masks ”and Ricky Zoom. But now, three months later, the highest free competition regulator in England, (CMA) said it will thoroughly investigate the acquisition of EOne by Hasbro, considering it a substantial threat to “free competition”.
According to CMA, the evaluation began on Friday, November 22nd and will run up until December 5th. A formal announcement can be expected by January 21st, 2020, to reveal whether said investigation will enter a “second phase”. Entertainment One is not only limited to producing children's content, the company has successfully developed series such as "The Walking Dead", "Ex On The Beach", and recently distributed several original films and is also involved in the music business, owning Death Row Records, the Californian record company that catapulted famous rap acts like Dr. Dree, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur.
Hasbro, on the other hand, is one of the strongest toy companies in the United States and in addition to handling different toy brands globally known like "My Little Pony", "Twister", "Power Rangers" and "Transformers", to name a few, it also owns the Monopoly boardgame. The possible consequences that this investigation could trigger in the near future, could range from ordering changes in the negotiation, to completely blocking the transaction.