Steve Bertram, Michael Lombardo out at eOne following $500m sale to Lionsgate

Entertainment One’s psychological survival drama Yellowjackets

Personnel changes are already in progress at Entertainment One (eOne) following its US$500m sale to Lionsgate, with top eOne execs Steve Bertram and Michael Lombardo set to depart and president of family brands Olivier Dumont taking on a new role within Hasbro.

Steve Bertram

Bertram, who serves as eOne’s president of film and television, announced his impending departure in an internal memo on the heels of news that Hasbro was offloading eOne after almost four years.

“With the business transitioning to a new owner, the time is right for me to move on,” read the memo from Bertram, who joined the Canada-headquartered studio in 2014.

“I will stay with the company for a short period to help kick off the transition process and will of course be available during that time to address the many questions you will have about what’s next.”

He added that Hasbro will soon appoint a transition team tasked with guiding eOne as it moves under its new owner.

Meanwhile, eOne’s president of global television Lombardo is also expected to exit the business following the close of the transaction, C21 understands. News of Lombardo’s departure was first reported by Deadline.

Michael Lombardo

The deal, which remains subject to several customary closing conditions, is expected to close before the end of the year.

The half-billion-dollar deal consists of US$375m in cash and the assumption of production financing loans. It includes: eOne’s team of employees; its 6,500-title content library; the non-Hasbro-branded film and scripted TV business, which produces and finances projects such as The Rookie franchise, Yellowjackets and feature film The Woman King; Hasbro’s interest in eOne’s Canadian film and TV business; and eOne’s unscripted division.

The deal does not include some of eOne’s key preschool brands such as Peppa Pig, which drove a large proportion of the whopping US$3.8bn that Hasbro paid for eOne in 2019, and PJ Masks.

When the transaction officially closes, Hasbro announced that it will launch a new division, Hasbro Entertainment, to develop, finance and produce entertainment based on Hasbro-owned brands. That division will be headed up by Dumont, a 13-year eOne veteran. Dumont’s new title has not yet been announced.

The toy giant said the entertainment-focused division “will bring to life new original ideas designed to fuel all areas of Hasbro’s blueprint including toys, publishing, gaming, licensed consumer products, and location-based entertainment.”

With the sale, Hasbro said it will move to an “asset-lite model” for live-action entertainment, relying more on licensing and partnerships than original production.

On an investor call, Hasbro’s chief financial officer Gina Goetter said that, in terms of revenue, Hasbro’s entertainment segment will shrink by around 85% with the sale of eOne.

Yesterday, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said the acquisition will strengthen the company’s scripted and unscripted TV business, in addition to allowing it to grow its presence in Canada and the UK.

“The deal is the culmination of our long-standing relationship with the immensely talented team at eOne and it continues to build our position as one of the world’s leading independent content platforms with a stockpile of great intellectual properties and a unique, non-replicable portfolio of assets.”