Sony Group executives detailed their vision for expanding the Peanuts franchise during the company’s fiscal third-quarter earnings call on Thursday, unveiling a strategy to leverage iconic IP across music, movies and global distribution platforms.
Lin Tao, Sony’s chief financial officer and executive officer, described the acquisition of an 80% stake in Peanuts Worldwide in December as a cross-functional initiative that spanned the company’s music and video divisions. The deal gives Sony control of what Tao calls “the world’s premier evergreen IP,” and positions the conglomerate to pursue an integrated approach to growing the popular series.
At the financial results briefing, Tao said, “We aim to leverage the strengths of the Sony Group to further expand our business scale and further improve our long-term brand value.”
The entertainment giant plans to strengthen its Sony Music Entertainment Japan business by integrating Peanuts characters and stories into its music, video and live event offerings. The strategy includes collaborations between Peanuts IP and SMEJ’s artist roster and existing content assets.
On the film and television front, Sony Pictures Entertainment will deploy its production capabilities and global distribution network to expand the reach of its series. “By leveraging SPS’ production capacity and distribution network, we aim to make peanut IP available to more people and share its appeal with people around the world,” said Tao.
Tao emphasized that Sony intends to maintain a close working relationship with the family of Charles M. Schulz, creator of the Peanuts cartoon, which first appeared in newspapers in 1950. Since then, the series has grown into a global phenomenon encompassing television specials, consumer products, theme park attractions and digital content.
As part of this acquisition, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) have agreed to purchase a 41% stake in Canadian media company WildBrain’s Peanuts Holdings for C$630 million (approximately $457 million). Combined with SMEJ’s existing 39% stake, this transaction brings Sony’s total ownership to 80%, with the Schulz family holding the remaining 20%.
The deal provided an immediate financial boost to Sony’s bottom line. Because Sony Music Entertainment Japan already owned about 39% of Peanuts Holdings before acquiring Wild Brain’s stake, accounting rules required the company to revalue its existing investments at current market prices. This revaluation resulted in a one-time gain of approximately 45 billion yen ($286.5 million), which Sony factored into its music division’s operating profit forecast. Simply put, the value of Sony’s original stake in Peanuts has increased significantly, and the company will have to formally recognize that valuation on its books. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year, subject to regulatory approvals.
