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Saban Brands
Company typeDivision
Industry
FoundedMay 12, 2010; 14 years ago (2010-05-12)
FounderHaim Saban
DefunctJuly 2, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-07-02)
FateAssets sold off to Hasbro
SuccessorHasbro Entertainment
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Number of employees
9
ParentSaban Capital Group
Divisions
  • Saban Brands Lifestyle Group
  • Saban Brands Entertainment Group
WebsiteOfficial website (archived)

Saban Brands was an American brand management and production company and a defunct subsidiary of Saban Capital Group based in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Israeli American media mogul Haim Saban as a successor to an earlier company he co-founded, Saban Entertainment (later BVS Entertainment), it was active from 12 May 2010 to 2 July 2018.

History

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Foundation and expansion

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On 5 May 2010, Saban Capital Group announced a formation of Saban Brands, a successor company to BVS Entertainment, previously known as Saban Entertainment, that is "dedicated to acquiring entertainment and consumer brands" with a starting investment of $500 million and Elie Dekel, a former licensing and merchandising executive of 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios).[1] On 12 May 2010, Saban Brands bought back the Power Rangers franchise including some related shows from the Walt Disney Company for $43 million[2] and produced a 19th season of the Power Rangers series that began airing on Nickelodeon on 7 February 2011, with the previous 700 episodes being rerun on Nicktoons.[3][4][5] It was also announced that Saban Brands is in negotiations to buy three other brands. On 17 August 2010, Saban Brands bought Paul Frank Industries, owners of the Julius Monkey brand.[6][7][8][9]

On 1 May 2012, Kidsco Media Ventures LLC, an affiliate of parent company Saban Capital Group, placed a bid to acquire some of the assets of bankrupt production and syndication company, 4Kids Entertainment, including the US rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise and The CW4Kids block, for $10 million.[10] 4K Acquisition Corp, a subsidiary of Japanese entertainment media conglomerate Konami, then placed a bid. On 5 June that same year, 4Kids commenced an auction between Kidsco and 4K Acquisition which was then adjourned so 4Kids, Kidsco and 4K Acquisition could consider an alternative transaction.[11][12] On 15 June 2012, 4Kids filed a notice outlining a proposed deal in which its assets would be divided between Kidsco and 4K Acquisition which was finalized on 26 June. The deal saw 4K Acquisition acquire the US rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise and Kidsco acquire other 4Kids assets including the US broadcasting agreements for Dragon Ball Z Kai, Cubix: Robots for Everyone, Sonic X and The CW4Kids Saturday morning programming block.[13][14] On 2 July 2012, Saban Brands, via its Kidsco Media Ventures division, would begin a programming block for The CW to replace Toonazi in the autumn/fall,[15][16][17][18] to be named Vortexx on 12 July and would ran from 25 August that year to 27 September 2014.[19][20]

On 12 June 2012, Saban Brands reintroduced the Popples franchise with upcoming merchandise to be released the following year in the autumn/fall.[21] On 3 August the same year, it was announced that Saban Brands acquired The Playforge, the development team behind App Store success stories Zombie Farm and Zombie Life.[22] On 19 September 2012, Saban Brands acquired Zui, provider of online children's content.[23] On 25 September 2012, Saban Brands announced that they re-acquired the Digimon franchise and its most recent season, Digimon Fusion with licensing and distribution duties retained by Toei Animation for Asian and MarVista Entertainment for all other territories.[24][25]

On 3 July 2013, Saban Brands signed a deal to manage the distribution, licensing and merchandising of Sendokai Champions in North America and Israel and be broadcast on Vortexx.[26] On 25 October 2013, Saban Brands shut down The Playforge because of poor game sales.[27][28][29]

Saban Brands and Lionsgate Films announced on 7 May 2014 that they were planning to produce a new Power Rangers feature film, and would hopefully launch a Power Rangers film franchise.[30] Saban Brands sold KidZui to LeapFrog Enterprises on 4 August the same year.[31] With the acquisition of Macbeth Footwear, Saban Brands formed two divisions Saban Brands Lifestyle Group and Saban Brands Entertainment Group to expand their holdings.[32] On 6 January 2014, Saban Brands Lifestyle Group acquired Mambo Graphics.[33] On 24 March 2015, Saban Brands Lifestyle Group had acquired Piping Hot.[34] Saban Brands developed animated series based on its first two properties, Kibaoh Klashers and Treehouse Detectives, which were picked up by Netflix on 6 October 2016.[35]

Library sale and closure

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On 15 February 2018, Saban Brands appointed Hasbro as the global master toy licensee for Power Rangers with a future option to purchase the franchise.[36] On 1 May 1, 2018 Saban agreed to sell Power Rangers and other entertainment assets to Hasbro for US$522 million in cash and stock, with the sale expected to close in that year's second quarter. Other properties in the deal included My Pet Monster, Popples, Julius Jr., Luna Petunia, Treehouse Detectives and content/media libraries owned by Saban Brands[37][38] (excluding Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty and other properties that were sold to different companies before the deal). Saban's Digimon and Pretty Cure licenses were also transferred to Hasbro, although were later left to expire, thus reverting to Toei Animation Inc. & Toei Animation Europe for its international distribution. Only nine existing employees out of sixty would be retained by SCG, and the Saban Brands subsidiary ended operations upon the closure of business on 2 July 2018.[39]

Libraries

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These properties are now owned by Hasbro, via Hasbro Entertainment:

References

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  1. ^ Barnes, Brooks (5 May 2010). "Haim Saban Goes Into Brand Management". Media Decoder. The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  2. ^ Bond, Paul (10 August 2010). "Disney's Q3 boosted by TV operations profit; Power Rangers sale added $43 million to coffers". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  3. ^ Nakashima, Ryan (12 May 2010). "Mogul Saban buys back Power Rangers from Disney". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 16 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  4. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (12 May 2010). "Saban re-acquires rights to 'Rangers'". Variety. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  5. ^ "Power Rangers morph back into Haim Saban's hands, will air on Nickelodeon". Los Angeles Times. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  6. ^ "Billionaire Saban buys Julius monkey brand". Associated Press. 17 August 2010. Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  7. ^ "Saban Acquires Leading Lifestyle Company Paul Frank Industries". License Global. Informa. 17 August 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  8. ^ Lodderhose, Diana (17 August 2010). "Saban Brands buys Paul Frank". Variety. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Call It a Comeback! Saban Brands Reunites Its Paul Frank Industries™ Brand with Original Founder, Paul Frank". Business Wire. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  10. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (1 May 2012). "4Kids to Sell Yu-Gi-Oh! Assets to Kidsco for US$10 Million (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  11. ^ "4Kids Entertainment Adjourns Section 363 Auction". 4Kids Entertainment. 8 June 2012. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  12. ^ Whittock, Jesse (11 June 2012). "4Kids bidders tussle over assets". C21Media. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  13. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (16 June 2012). "Konami to Get 4Kids' Yu-Gi-Oh! Assets Under Proposed Deal". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  14. ^ a b "4Kids Sells Yu-Gi-Oh!, CW Network-Related Assets Jointly to Konami, Kidsco". Anime News Network. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  15. ^ Wallenstein, Andrew (2 July 2012). "Saban Brands to rebuild CW toon block". Variety. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  16. ^ Marcucci, Carl (3 July 2012). "The CW signs Saban Brands for kids block". Radio & Television Business Report. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  17. ^ "Saban builds CW kids' block". C21Media. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  18. ^ Dickson, Jeremy (3 July 2012). "Saban and The CW launch kids TV block". Kidscreen. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  19. ^ "'Power Rangers' Backer Saban to Reenter Kiddie TV". Advertising Age. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  20. ^ "Saban Brands to launch Vortexx kid shows on The CW". Los Angeles Business Journalaccess-date=2 October 2012. 12 July 2012.
  21. ^ Jeremy, Dickson (13 June 2012). "Saban brings back the Popples". Kidscreen. Brunico Communications. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  22. ^ "Topgrossing Zombie-Farm dev acquired by Saban". Gamasutra. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  23. ^ "Saban Brands buys Zui". L.A. Biz. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  24. ^ Crowe, Deborah (25 September 2012). "Saban Brands Acquires Digimon Anime Brand". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  25. ^ Dickson, Jeremy (27 September 2012). "Saban Brands acquires Digimon franchise". Kidscreen. Brunico Communications. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  26. ^ "Saban Takes on Sendokai". License!. Advanstar Communications. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  27. ^ Kerr, Chris (28 October 2013). "Layoffs hit The Playforge as studio 'winds down' on game development". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  28. ^ Ligman, Kris (25 October 2013). "Report: Playforge to shutter, entire staff facing layoff". Game Developer. Informa. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  29. ^ Kawamoto, Dawn (31 October 2013). "Will Layoffs Turn Playforge Into a Zombie?". Dice.com. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  30. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (May 7, 2014). "Lionsgate, Saban Brands Reboot 'Power Rangers' As Pic Franchise". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  31. ^ Perez, Sarah (4 August 2014). "LeapFrog Buys Kid's Web Browser Maker KidZui". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  32. ^ a b c Padovano, Joanna (12 December 2014). "Saban Brands Expands with New Lifestyle & Entertainment Units". World Screen. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  33. ^ Traill-Nash, Glynis. "Surfwear label Mambo bought by US company Saban Brands". The Australian. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  34. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Saban Brands. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  35. ^ a b c Petski, Denise (6 October 2016). "Netflix Orders Six New Kids Series Including 'Lego Elves' & Avi Arad's 'Super Monsters'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved September 5, 2017. Cite error: The named reference "dl0" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  36. ^ Sorrentino, Mike (15 February 2018). "Power Rangers toy maker is moving on after 25 years". CNET. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  37. ^ "Hasbro buying Power Rangers, other brands in $522M deal". ABC News. AP. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  38. ^ "Saban Brands Sells Power Rangers to Hasbro for $522M". Los Angeles Business Journal. May 2, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  39. ^ Blake, Matthew (23 May 2018). "Saban Brands Plans Layoffs Following Hasbro Acquisition". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  40. ^ "Coloring outside the lines". Kidscreen. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  41. ^ "Home".
  42. ^ a b c "Search the name "SCG Power Rangers"". United States Copyright Office Public Catalog.
  43. ^ a b c "Cynopsis: Kids! 09/19/11". Cynopsis. September 19, 2011. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  44. ^ a b c Pickard, Michael (September 16, 2011). "MarVista picks up live Turtles". C21Media. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  45. ^ "Screening Room". World Screen. March 9, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  46. ^ "Saban Listed as Promoting Smile Precure to Licensees as Glitter Force". Anime News Network. September 24, 2015.
  47. ^ "Saban Brands Gives Glitter Force Trademark to Toei Animation - The Tokusatsu Network". tokusatsunetwork.com. May 25, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  48. ^ "Glitter Force Brand's Rights Move to Hasbro". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  49. ^ "peg on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  50. ^ Hasbro. "Glitter Force – a legendary superhero squad". www.glitterforce.com. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  51. ^ "Glitter Force". July 6, 2018. Archived from the original on July 6, 2018. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  52. ^ Dickson, Jeremy (September 11, 2012). "MarVista to rep new Paul Frank series Julius Jr". KidScreen. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  53. ^ Whittock, Jesse (September 11, 2012). "MarVista to rep Paul Frank toon". C21Media. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  54. ^ "Screening Room".
  55. ^ "Programming Catalog: Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation". MarVista Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 25, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  56. ^ "First impressions: the new age of licensing is about "digital" (whatever that means), portfolios, logistics. - Free Online Library". Licensing Letter. Plain Language Media. June 18, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2018 – via thefreelibrary.com.
  57. ^ "Hasbro to acquire Power Rangers, other franchises from Saban". CNBC. May 1, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
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