CULVER CITY, Calif. and DALLAS, Texas—Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and AT&T have announced that the Funimation Global Group has completed acquisition of AT&T's Crunchyroll anime business.
Funimation is a joint venture between SPE and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.'s subsidiary, Aniplex,
The $1.175 billion Crunchyroll deal, which was first announced in December of 2020, will give Funimation ownership of an anime direct-to-consumer service with 5 million SVOD subscribers and some 120 million registered users across more than 200 countries and territories offering AVOD, mobile games, manga, events merchandise and distribution.
"Crunchyroll adds tremendous value to Sony's existing anime businesses, including Funimation and our terrific partners at Aniplex and Sony Music Entertainment Japan," said Tony Vinciquerra, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. "With Crunchyroll and Funimation, we are committed to creating the ultimate anime experience for fans and presenting a unique opportunity for our key partners, publishers, and the immensely talented creators to continue to deliver their masterful content to audiences around the world. With the addition of Crunchyroll, we have an unprecedented opportunity to serve anime fans like never before and deliver the anime experience across any platform they choose, from theatrical, events, home entertainment, games, streaming, linear TV -- everywhere and every way fans want to experience their anime. Our goal is to create a unified anime subscription experience as soon as possible."
