Saban venture set to buy Yu-Gi-Oh!

A new Delaware-based outfit affiliated with Saban Capital Group is set to buy the Yu-Gi-Oh! animé brand from New York’s 4Kids Entertainment for US$10m.

Documents 4Kids filed to the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York this week show KidsCo Media Ventures (understood to be unrelated to the KidsCo TV channel) has made a “stalking horse” offer to buy rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! business.

4Kids’ filing noted it would auction off its assets. The US$10m offer will be used as a “floor price” for other bidders, though C21 understands from a source close to the company there are no other runners at the moment and that the pair has been in exclusive talks for some time.

4Kids remains in bankruptcy protection until the end of May, before the auction takes place on June 5. A closing date for a sale is cited for June 30. As a stalking horse bidder, KidsCo would be entitled to compensation from that firm should it lose out at this stage.

KidsCo has the same Delaware address as Haim Saban’s investment firm Saban Capital Group, and Saban’s president and chief operating officer Adam Chesnoff and executive VP Niveen Tadros are named in the documents. Furthermore, the documents show Saban Capital subsidiary Saban Properties will act as a guarantor for KidsCo.

The deal would give it broadcast and licensing rights to Yu-Gi-Oh!, which 4Kids regained access to after winning a court case against the show’s Japanese producers, ADK, Nihon Ad Systems and TV Tokyo, earlier this year, a ruling that also significantly boosted its coffers.

Also included in the deal are 52 library episodes of Dragon Ball Z, 26 of Cubix and 52 of Viva Piñata, plus the ad revenues from the programming block the firm provides The CW. However, UK-based sales subsidiary 4Kids International is not included.

4Kids court win last month saw it recognised as the official broadcasting, L&M and home video rights holder for the Yu-Gi-Oh! brand outside of Asia. The company was forced into bankruptcy protection a year earlier to prepare for the case.