Halifax based production and distribution company DHX Media Ltd. has had their bid to take over Toronto’s Cookie Jar Entertainment has been approved by shareholders of the latter to create a true programming giant.
According to the Globe and Mail, the merger will allow both parties to eliminate redundancies, saving themselves $8 million while also leveraging their joint assets to attract and reach more digital consumers of their content. The online business model allows digital content to be sold directly to end users, keeping profits that would have otherwise belonged to cable and satellite providers.
The deal is worth a reported $111 million and the firms will be making a joint push to create more international distribution deals. With viewership in a collective 150 countries, shows such as Caillou, This Hour Has 22 Minutes and others can be purchased per episode. The terms of the deal will see DHX spend $5 million while assuming $66 million in debt while also issuing 36 million of its shares to Cookie Jar’s owners.
In total, the two companies have an impressive 8,000 episodes, the majority of which comes from Cookie Jar. The Toronto-based firm has also seen its online distribution grow an impressive 350% since last year, clearly understanding how to distribute content in the online world.
Consumers will be able to access DHX and Cookie Jar’s shared content from 14 digital providers including Netflix as well as the potential for more given digital adoption by consumers.