WildBrain, a specialist in family entertainment, has signed a definitive agreement to sell its 41 per cent stake in Peanuts Holdings, the holding entity for the Peanuts IP, to Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) and Sony Pictures Entertainment for $630 million (€537.8m) cash.

The family of Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts, retain their 20 per cent stake in the brand. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Under the agreement, WildBrain remains a multi-year partner to Peanuts for key services, including:

• Exclusive licensing agent through WildBrain CPLG for consumer products in all current territories across Europe, the Middle East, China, and Asia Pacific (excluding Japan & ANZ);
• Exclusive production studio for new Peanuts content-including the previously announced feature film-under an expansive partnership with Apple TV, recently renewed through 2030; and
• Distributor of WildBrain-produced Peanuts content and continued management of the Snoopy YouTube channel.

Josh Scherba, President and CEO of WildBrain, said: “Over the past several years, we’ve successfully executed a strategy to drive growth for our own and partner entertainment properties, harnessing our capabilities across franchise management and consumer products licensing, content distribution on our premium digital network, and production at our studio. The strength of this platform has been proven by the growth in revenue we’ve driven for Peanuts, achieving a record high for the brand in fiscal 2025. Selling our stake in Peanuts crystallizes the brand’s value, eliminating our debt and providing capital flexibility to reinvest in high-growth, high-margin opportunities, especially for IP that we own outright, such as Strawberry Shortcake, Teletubbies and others in our deep portfolio, such as Degrassi, Inspector Gadget and more.”

“Sony has been an excellent partner on the Peanuts brand for many years, and we’re confident that Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang are in good hands. Since we originally acquired the brand in 2017, we have materially grown its audience through an expansive partnership with Apple TV for new content, including a new feature film currently in production, and also through growing a robust licensing programme across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. We’d like to thank Tim Erickson and the Peanuts Worldwide team, as well as the Schulz family, for their incredible collaboration on these endeavors. We look forward to working with them and the Sony team as valued partners to continue driving global growth for Peanuts in the years to come,” added Scherba.

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Categories: Articles, Content, Rights

Tags: Apple TV, peanuts, Snoopy, Sony, WildBrain