WildBrain Sells Peanuts Stake to Sony

Sony is acquiring WildBrain’s 41% stake in Peanuts for C$630 million, a transaction that eliminates the kids’ and family company’s debt.

WildBrain bought 80% of Peanuts and 100% of Strawberry Shortcake for C$448 million in 2017. It sold off 39% a year later to Sony for C$236 million. Sale proceeds and distributions to WildBrain from owning Peanuts have topped C$1 billion.

The family of Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts, retains its 20% stake in Peanuts Holdings following the transaction with Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

WildBrain remains a partner for key services, including as exclusive licensing agent, through WildBrain CPLG, for consumer products in all current territories across Europe, the Middle East, China, and Asia Pacific (excluding Japan and Australia/New Zealand). WildBrain will also serve as the exclusive production studio for new Peanuts content. It will also distribute all WildBrain-produced Peanuts content and continue to manage the Snoopy YouTube channel.

The proceeds will be used to fully repay WildBrain’s credit facility, with the balance C$40 million deployed toward growing its wholly owned franchises, including Strawberry Shortcake and Teletubbies; expanding its footprint across YouTube, FAST and AVOD; and investing in new technologies.

“Over the past several years, we’ve successfully executed a strategy to drive growth for our own and partner entertainment properties, harnessing our capabilities across franchise management and consumer products licensing, content distribution on our premium digital network, and production at our studio,” said Josh Scherba, president and CEO of WildBrain. “The strength of this platform has been proven by the growth in revenue we’ve driven for Peanuts, achieving a record high for the brand in fiscal 2025. Selling our stake in Peanuts crystallizes the brand’s value, eliminating our debt and providing capital flexibility to reinvest in high-growth, high-margin opportunities, especially for IP that we own outright, such as Strawberry Shortcake, Teletubbies and others in our deep portfolio, such as Degrassi, Inspector Gadget and more.”

Scherba added: “Sony has been an excellent partner on the Peanuts brand for many years, and we’re confident that Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang are in good hands. Since we originally acquired the brand in 2017, we have materially grown its audience through an expansive partnership with Apple TV for new content, including a new feature film currently in production, and also through growing a robust licensing program across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. We’d like to thank Tim Erickson and the Peanuts Worldwide team, as well as the Schulz family, for their incredible collaboration on these endeavors. We look forward to working with them and the Sony team as valued partners to continue driving global growth for Peanuts in the years to come.”

Shunsuke Muramatsu, president and group CEO at Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), noted, “With this additional ownership stake, we are thrilled to be able to further elevate the value of the Peanuts brand by drawing on the Sony Group’s extensive global network and collective expertise. We are deeply committed to carrying forward the legacy of Charles Schulz and the Schulz family. Together with SPE, and backed by WildBrain’s continued partnership, we will continue to embrace new opportunities to ensure that Peanuts remains a relevant and beloved presence across generations—reaching new audiences and sharing the timeless charm of the Peanuts gang for years ahead.”

Ravi Ahuja, president and CEO at Sony Pictures Entertainment, added, “Peanuts is enduring and iconic. We value the deep collaboration we have with our SMEJ colleagues and look forward to building on their meaningful partnership with WildBrain and the Schulz family. With our combined strengths, we have the unique capability and extraordinary opportunity to protect and shape the future of these beloved characters for generations to come.”

Recent strategy shifts at WildBrain also include the closure of its broadcast television channels in Canada, releasing the company from ownership restrictions under local broadcast regulations.

“At WildBrain, we are building the family entertainment company of the future, propelled by beloved franchises scaled across our unique, integrated platform,” Scherba added. “In the past year alone, we’ve delivered nearly 200% growth for Strawberry Shortcake and more than 60% for Teletubbies. Our flywheel strategy drives fandom and brand affinity, turning that into high-margin, repeatable profit. We have built a successful, brand-agnostic platform, and I’m confident we can replicate the success of Peanuts to unlock the value of our deep portfolio of IP. Going forward, as we lean into key opportunities to accelerate growth, we will continue to look for strategic ways to simplify and focus our global business.”

Nick Gawne, WildBrain CFO, noted: “This transaction marks a pivotal moment for WildBrain as we look to the future. By deleveraging, we can now redeploy cash flows from debt service into strategic investments that not only accelerate growth in our franchises and premium digital content network but also allow us to invest in technologies to streamline operations and drive margin expansion. We remain highly confident in the growth potential of our core business, and by improving our capital structure, this transaction enables us to better demonstrate the strong cash-generation characteristics embedded in our business model.”