Hasbro focusing on ‘fewer, bigger brands’ as it looks to maximise eOne assets

Rhode Island-based children’s entertainment giant Hasbro is focusing on “fewer, bigger brands” as it continues to review how best to maximise the various assets it acquired with its purchase of Entertainment One (eOne) in 2019.

Chris Cocks

“For non-Hasbro-branded initiatives, our strategic review continues,” said Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks during an investor presentation on Tuesday.

The review is part of a larger shift toward focusing more on content that is directly attached to Hasbro’s IP, noted Cocks.

In the past 18 months, Hasbro has divested several assets, including music publishing company eOne Music, which was acquired by private equity giant Blackstone in April 2021.

Franchises such as preschool juggernaut Peppa Pig, which moved under the Hasbro umbrella with the eOne acquisition, still represent an important part of Hasbro’s future business, said execs during the presentation, noting that the preschool category continues to be a big priority.

However, as the company focuses more on Hasbro-branded IP, it is exploring what to do with titles produced and distributed under its adult-focused scripted and unscripted businesses.

“As part of that process, we’re exploring how best to maximise the growth and value of marquee assets like our 10,000-plus-asset content library including premium hits like The Rookie, Yellowjackets, Naked & Afraid and the Mark Gordon library,” said Cocks.

The Rookie spin-off series The Rookie: Feds, debuted on last week on ABC in the US, while Showtime original drama Yellowjackets is currently in production on its second season following a critically acclaimed debut run. EOne owns Naked & Afraid prodco Renegade 83 after inking a deal to acquire the company in 2016. It acquired full ownership of The Mark Gordon Company in 2018.

While Hasbro has not publicly stated what it might do with these assets, a report from Bloomberg in August said the company was exploring restructuring or selling off some of its entertainment assets.

Those assets are of significant scale, with eOne stating in August that it had more than 200 projects in development across scripted and unscripted TV and film. At the time, the company also said it was working to develop adaptations of more than 35 Hasbro brands, including Transformers, Power Rangers, Play-Doh and My Little Pony.

Amid the strategic review, it was also revealed in August that eOne’s longtime president and CEO Darren Throop is stepping down at the end of the year when his contract expires.

Throop’s departure will come almost exactly three years after Hasbro completed its purchase of eOne for around US$3.8bn. That deal was architected by Throop and Hasbro’s then chairman and CEO Brian Goldner, who died last October at the age of 58.