Vancouver film studio acquires major entertainment company for $500M

JOCA_PH/Shutterstock

Lionsgate, a prominent Vancouver film studio, has acquired eOne for $500 million in a deal expected to close later this year.

eOne has a 6,500-title library, including properties like Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, and Atomic Blonde.

Hasbro previously acquired eOne for a whopping $4 billion, so Lionsgate got quite the deal acquiring it for $500 million, compromising $375 million in cash.

You might also like:

The now California-based Lionsgate calls eOne, based in Toronto, a “world-class producer of scripted and unscripted television and motion pictures.”

Other properties under eOne’s belt include the TV franchise The Rookie, which is in its sixth season on ABC.

“As part of the agreement, Lionsgate also will acquire film development rights to Hasbro’s Monopoly, based on the wildly popular board game,” reads a statement from Lionsgate.

Lionsgate adds that this will help it scale up its operations in the UK and Canada.

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer says this acquisition’s impact will be felt immediately.

“It will be immediately and highly accretive, adds a world-class library with thousands of properties, strengthens our scripted and unscripted television business and continues to expand our presence in Canada and the UK,” Feltheimer said.

“The deal is the culmination of our long-standing relationship with the immensely talented team at eOne, and it continues to build our position as one of the world’s leading independent content platforms with a stockpile of great intellectual properties and a unique, non-replicable portfolio of assets.”

The Vancouver film studio was formed in 1997, and since then, Lionsgate has produced movies like American Psycho, Saw and The Hunger Games.