Sony will be buying anime streaming service Crunchyroll for $ 1.175 billion, Sony and at & T announced Wednesday. The company already licenses many popular shows such as attack on Titan, fullmetal alchemist, and one piece.
Sony owns both Crunchyroll and funimation. Netflix has also invested heavily in both licensing and producing its own anime content.
Crunchyroll has built a world-class brand with a fan-base of over 3 million subscribers, 50 million social followers and 90 million registered users.’these amazing fans have helped to propel anime into a global phenomenon,’ said the general manager of Crunchyroll.
The union of funimation and Crunchyroll is a win for fans around the world. funimation CEO Colin Decker, CEO of funimation global group, said:’combining these two great companies will be a victory for fans’.
At & T and Sony have reportedly been in talks about the deal. In August, the information reported that at & T wanted Sony to pay $ 1.5 billion for Crunchyroll. The two sides were reportedly close to a nearly $ 1 billion deal in October.