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A Plus jumps into Chicken Soup

US producer and distributor Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (CSSE) is acquiring US-based digital media company A Plus, co-founded and chaired by actor Ashton Kutcher, for US$15m.

Ashton Kutcher

The deal comes over two years after CSSE took a majority stake in A Plus, which launched in 2014. Details of the original transaction were not disclosed.

The company is described as a “social and mobile-first platform” that specialises in “positive journalism and delivers video stories that bring people together.”

A Plus said it had generated 4.8 billion video views over the past year and increased social media followers by half to 2.9 million.

As part of the agreement, CSSE has acquired all outstanding shares including those belonging to Kutcher, who will receive cash and CSSE shares in return.

CSSE’s chairman and CEO William J Rouhana Jr said the deal would result in savings of US$5m this year due to reduced distribution costs, with the resulting cash being used for more original programming.

CSSE, which curates and distributes longform and shortform programming, is already working with Two and a Half Men star Kutcher on The Fixer, a financial series helping millennials to overcome their cash problems.

Last year CSSE acquired SVoD service Pivotshare, allowing the former to launch its own on-demand business based on Pivotshare’s online channels, which focus on categories such as music, sports, religion, arts and culture, lifestyle and family.

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