Universal & Sony rumoured to be interested in Funimation
Paul •
Bloomberg have published an article speculating that North American anime distributor Funimation could be (or has been) the subject of competing take-over bids from Universal and Sony:
Both Comcast Corp.’s Universal film division and Sony Pictures have weighed bidding for Funimation, a big U.S. player in Japanese-style animation, people close to the situation said. Universal, which has a multiyear deal to distribute Funimation’s DVDs, looked and decided not to proceed, said one of the people, who asked not to be named discussing internal matters. A separate Sony Corp. unit is a partner in the company’s streaming business.
The reasons for their interest includes Funimation’s continually strong DVD & Blu-ray sales, which buck the trend in a market that’s otherwise shrinking.
The impact of any major change at Funimation would likely filter down to the UK anime industry, where the company remains a big player.
