Business
Scholastic to Invest in 9 Story Media Group, Significantly Expanding Opportunities for Production and Global Licensing of Scholastic IP
Founding CEO Vince Commisso & 9 Story Leadership Team to Join with Scholastic and Continue Leading State-of-the-Art, Premium Children's Content Production
About this update from Scholastic Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"Founding CEO Vince Commisso & 9 Story Leadership Team to Join with Scholastic and Continue Leading State-of-the-Art, Premium Children's Content Production Facilities in Toronto, Dublin & Bali and Global Distribution and Licensing Teams\nNEW YORK and TORONTO, March 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children's publishing, education and media company, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to invest in 9 Story Media Group. Through the investment, Scholastic will acquire 100% of the economic interest in and a minority of voting rights in 9 Story Media Group (\"9 Story\"), a leading independent creator, producer and distributor of premium children's content, for approximately USD $186 million, subject to customary closing adjustments.\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \nThe strategic investment in 9 Story's team and best-in-class production, sales and licensing capabilities significantly expands Scholastic's opportunities to leverage its trusted brand, best-selling publishing and beloved global children's franchises across print, screens and merchandising. Today's announcement solidifies a long-time collaboration between Scholastic Entertainment, the company's successful and award-winning media development and production division, and 9 Story®, which includes the animated series reboot of \"Clifford the Big Red Dog®\" on PBS Kids and Amazon Prime Video and production of \"Eva the OwletTM\" on Apple TV+®. \n\"This highly strategic combination, adding 9 Story's industry-leading capabilities with Scholastic's trusted brand and proven ability to create iconic children's series and franchises, has tremendous potential to build deeper connections with young people through our stories, as the pages of our books come to life on screens and through merchandising. At its core, Scholastic's 360° content creation strategy is about engaging children with reading, and we have introduced our stories to generations of kids by reaching them where they are,\" said Peter Warwick, Scholastic President and Chief Executive Officer. \"We are thrilled to build upon our more than 20-year relationship with 9 Story's exceptional management team and employees, whose culture and values could not be better aligned with our own.\"\nIole Lucchese, Scholastic Board Chair and President, Scholastic Entertainment, added, \"By bringing t...