Sony to Acquire Crunchyroll Anime Streaming Service for nearly $1 billion: Report

The Japanese tech giant Sony is in final talks with AT&T to acquire U.S. based animation-streaming service Crunchyroll in a deal worth more than 100 billion yen ($1 billion), the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.

Sony and Crunchyroll deals would give Sony access to Crunchyroll’s 1,000 titles and 30,000 episodes, reports Nikkei Asia.

Crunchyroll has already seen major success with the release of the animated Demon Slayer movie, which became the highest-grossing movie in Japan.

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Sony Crunchyroll Acquisition News Updates

Crunchyroll is currently owned by US telecoms giant AT&T was founded in 2006, and has been looking to offload the streaming service for a while.

Crunchyroll launched in 2006 and was acquired by Otter Media in 2013 in a deal that funded database PitchBook Data Inc. Estimate valued Crunchyroll at over $100 million. Otter, a joint video venture created by AT&T and Peter Chernin, became a full AT&T subsidiary two years ago.

Sony and AT&T were yet to officially comment on the report.

Sony already owns anime service Funimation, which has a million subscribers, though this is dwarfed by Crunchyroll’s three million subscribers and whopping 70m free members.

The new deal of Sony and Crunchyroll would help Sony to further expand its offering in Japan, US and abroad.

About the Narayanan Srinathan

Narayanan Srinathan is an author and digital marketing expert for the entire 'Live Planet News' and covers the latest business, technology, health, and entertainment news for www.liveplanetnews.com

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