Hasbro‘s Entertainment One has cut another 10 percent of its workforce as a $500 million deal to sell the division to Lionsgate nears a scheduled completion this month, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
It’s understood that, ahead of eOne and Lionsgate combining, likely by the final week of December, eOne workers have been told who will be welcomed into the Hollywood studio after the close of the sales agreement, and which employees will not be taken on by Lionsgate or can continue through a brief transitional period.
In June 2023, eOne cut another 20 percent of its workforce as parent Hasbro looked to reduce overall costs at the toymaker and had put its film and TV unit up for sale. Hasbro acquired the Toronto-based studio in 2019 as part of a $4 billion all-cash transaction and announced its intention to sell eOne in mid-November 2022.
An earlier plan by Hasbro to have eOne expand the toymaker as a media contender with a film and TV unit of its own was overtaken by newly installed CEO Chris Cocks turning the company’s focus to becoming a digital gaming powerhouse after fending off a proxy battle with an activist investor.
Lionsgate eventually stepped forward to acquire certain assets of eOne, including a content library of nearly 6,500 titles and active productions for non-Hasbro owned IP like the Yellowjackets, The Rookie and Naked and Afraid franchises, as well as the eOne unscripted business.
The eOne film and TV business being sold also includes Hasbro’s interest in the Canadian film and TV operations of Entertainment One Canada Limited. Hasbro in turn, after selling off eOne, will focus on branded assets like Peppa Pig, Transformers and Dungeons & Dragons as it looks to become a digital games giant.