Sony has taken control of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts franchise including Snoopy and Charlie Brown in a deal worth C$630m (£340m).
The Japanese conglomerate has bought 41% of Peanuts Holdings, which owns the intellectual property Schulz created, from the Canadian children’s entertainment company WildBrain.
The deal raises Sony’s total stake, which it began building in 2018, to 80%. The Schulz family owns the remaining 20%.
Peanuts, which first appeared as a comic strip in seven newspapers in 1950 and ran daily until the cartoonist’s death in 2000, has gone on to become a global franchise spanning TV, toys, films and theme park attractions.
In October, Apple TV announced an extension of its deal as the exclusive streaming home for Peanuts until 2030, which includes the production of a new Snoopy and Charlie Brown animated feature film.
20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios produced The Peanuts Movie in 2015.
Sony, whose empire spans film, television, music, gaming and electronics, has been bolstering its push into entertainment and original content in recent years.
The company achieved significant success with the hit TV series The Last of Us, which was adapted from a popular PlayStation game.
In the UK, Sony owns, or has majority control of the TV production companies behind series including Downton Abbey, Outlander, Industry and His Dark Materials. Its film studio, Sony Pictures, is behind franchises including Spider-Man and Venom, and Sony Music is home to global artists including Beyoncé, Adele and Pink Floyd.
“With this additional ownership stake we are thrilled to be able to further elevate the value of the Peanuts brand by drawing on Sony Group’s extensive global network and collective expertise,” said Shunsuke Muramatsu, the chief executive of Sony Music Entertainment.
“We are deeply committed to carrying forward the legacy of Charles Schulz and the Schulz family.”
Sony said the publicly listed WildBrain would be retained under a multi-year service arrangement to handle licensing, production and distribution relating to the Peanuts franchise.
WildBrain, which acquired its 80% stake in the Peanuts franchise in 2017, also owns intellectual property rights to franchises including Strawberry Shortcake, Teletubbies, Degrassi and Inspector Gadget.
