Blackstone-backed entity acquires Singapore-based One Animation

SINGAPORE-BASED media company and production studio One Animation is being acquired by Moonbug Entertainment, a London-based media company that is a subsidiary of Candle Media — a media entity backed by investment capital from funds managed by Blackstone’s private equity business.

Candle is run by its co-chairmen and co-chief executive officers (CEOs), Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, who are also former Walt Disney Co executives.

“One Animation is a fantastic addition, not only for its successful franchises, but also for its capabilities and scale, and the opportunity to further enhance a dynamic Singapore-based hub for Moonbug as a rapidly growing family entertainment powerhouse,” said Mayer and Staggs in a statement to The Business Times on Wednesday, May 25.

The acquisition will provide One Animation a global footprint and access to the best in class talent to grow its business at an accelerated pace, said Sashim Parmanand, CEO of One Animation.

“The Moonbug team has a proven go-to-market strategy that builds brands into long-term franchises,” said Parmanand. “One Animation’s brands will have access to a much bigger audience, and access to Moonbug's wider distribution network, data insights and investment.”

Founded in 2008, One Animation holds intellectual property (IP) rights in a variety of children content titles such as Rob The Robot, Insectibles and Antiks; with new IP in development for Minibods, Unicorns Vs Llamas, Future Bros, and Rita Peters.

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Disney, Netflix, Cartoon Network, Discovery Kids are One Animation’s global content partners. Retail partnerships include Target, Walmart and Amazon. Its flagship Oddbods series, has been nominated for more than 35 awards in the last 5 years including 3 Emmy nominations for Best Children’s Animation.

One Animation has a team of 60 people based in Singapore, and an additional 50 people working with an exclusive vendor based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“One Animation is a thriving example of an award-winning creative team established through supportive local policy. Singapore has built a phenomenal environment to train local talent over 10 years to become world leading computer animators, content creators and digital distribution talent,” said Alfred Chubb, head of mergers and acquisitions at Moonbug Entertainment.

In response to BT queries on the acquisition amount, Chubb noted that “it is not Moonbug’s practice to disclose transaction details”.

Moonbug, a digital kids' entertainment company founded in June 2018, has offices in Singapore, Los Angeles, New York, Seoul and London.

“Over the past 4 years, we have acquired some of the best performing digital shows and turned them into some of the biggest global entertainment franchises,” Chubb noted.