#Sony’s Funimation Completes Acquisition of Crunchyroll

Following the U.S. Justice Department Antitrust Review and regulatory approval, Sony Pictures Entertainment confirmed that it has completed aqusition of AT&T’s Crunchyroll through Funimation Global Group, LLC for $1.175 billion USD. 

The Funimation Global Group is a a joint-venture between Sony Pictures Television and Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan). 

The aqusition was originally announced in December 2020 by Sony Pictures and Crunchyroll. In March, the U.S. Justice Department reviewed whether the deal would give Sony dominance over anime streaming. 

Tony Vinciquerra, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. commented: “Crunchyroll adds tremendous value to Sony’s existing anime businesses, including Funimation and our terrific partners at Aniplex and Sony Music Entertainment Japan. With the addition of Crunchyroll, we have an unprecedented opportunity to serve anime fans like never before and deliver the anime experience across any platform they choose, from theatrical, events, home entertainment, games, streaming, linear TV — everywhere and every way fans want to experience their anime. Our goal is to create a unified anime subscription experience as soon as possible.” 

Crunchyroll is an anime streaming service with over 5 million subscribers and available across 200+ countries and territories. Its services also extend to anime merchandise, mobile games, and manga. Funimation’s streaming service with over 1 million subscribers offers over 700 anime series and known for releasing simulcast dubbed content, film distribution, merchandise, live events, and more. The platform recently rebranded Australia and New Zealand’s streaming service AnimeLab into Funimation. 

Source: press release