Sony Arm to Buy Stake in Company for Snoopy

May 15, 2018

Tokyo- Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. has said it will buy 39 pct of shares in a company that owns the Peanuts brand including Snoopy for 20.4 billion yen.

The music arm of electronics giant Sony Corp. will acquire the shares in Peanuts Holdings LLC from children's content and brands company DHX Media Ltd. of Canada.

DHX owns 80 pct of Peanuts Holdings, set up by Charles Schulz, who created the Peanuts comic series.

The acquisition will be completed as early as June 30, according to the announcement made on Monday.

Under the deal, DHX's stake will drop to 41 pct, while the remaining 20 pct will stay with the family of Schulz.

Peanuts is currently carried in 2,200 newspapers in 75 countries.

The Sony group began Peanuts licensing business in Japan in 2010. It aims to expand its character business worldwide. Jiji Press