Sony Pictures Television has acquired Anime company Funimation Productions in a deal that brings some of the best known anime titles under a new corporate umbrella.
According to Deadline and other sources, Sony spent $143 million to acquire 95 percent of the company, leaving Funimation CEO Gen Fukunaga in place with a minority share. Funimation released a statement regarding the sale;
t’s official. The deal has closed for Sony Pictures Television Networks to acquire Funimation — and we’re incredibly excited!
We’re still the Funimation you’ve known and grown up with, and now with the power of Sony, and with Gen [Fukunaga] at the helm, we have the opportunity to bring the best anime to even more fans across the world.
Funimation is the home of some of the most populart anime titles in the world including Dragon Ball, One Piece, Attack on Titan, Cowboy Bebop and My Hero Academia. Funimation is also the studio that produced the critically acclaimed anime film Your Name, which will be released on Blu-Ray/DVD later this year. This isn’t the first anime studio Sony has acquired. The company owns Aniplex which produces Sword Art Online through its A-1 Pictures subsidiary.
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