So, ah… does anyone remember when Orion bought Streamline Pictures? Anybody at all?
Sigh… guess not.
Business publication Bloomberg News reports that Comcast’s Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures have been weighing possible bids to purchase Funimation.
According to Bloomberg, an anonymous source within Universal stated that the company “looked and decided not to proceed.”
Universal currently has a multi-year agreement to distribute Funimation’s DVD and Blu-Ray titles. Sony DADC currently works with Funimation as a partner for Funimation’s streaming operations.
Bloomberg reports that Funimation takes in over than $100 million in annual sales, and has exceeded 10% year-over-year-growth since 2013. Company CEO Mike DuBoise commented on this figure, stating:
Funimation has experienced annual double-digit revenue growth since 2013 for both our digital and physical collectible business despite industry trends in physical disc sales moving in the opposite direction
In addition to DVD and Blu-Ray sales, Funimation’s operations include merchandising, the Funimation Films theatrical division, and streaming service FunimationNow. The company employs over 200 people across the globe, from Texas to New York and Japan.
Last year, Funimation and Crunchyroll entered a landmark distribution partnership, which would see the two companies sharing streaming catalogs. Funimation produces and distributes dubbed adaptations on FunimationNow and distributes Crunchyroll’s titles on home video. Crunchyroll focuses on streaming subtitled content from the two companies’ libraries.
Source: Bloomberg
