Global children’s publishing, education and media company Scholastic has signed a definitive agreement to invest in 9 Story Media Group, producer and distributor of children’s content. Through the investment, Scholastic will acquire 100 per cent economic interest in and a minority of voting rights in 9 Story for approximately USD $186 million, subject to customary closing adjustments.
The 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 global children’s franchises across print, screens and merchandising. Today’s announcement solidifies a long-time collaboration between the company’s successful and award-winning media development and production division Scholastic Entertainment 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 Owlet on Apple TV+.
“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,” said Scholastic president and chief executive officer Peter Warwick. “At its core, Scholastic’s 360 degree 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. 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.”
“By bringing together Scholastic’s knowledge of what kids love and our proven track record of successful media development with 9 Story’s top-rated global production, distribution and licensing capabilities, I am confident we can meet the continued, strong demand for high-quality kids and family entertainment. Today’s announcement presents a huge opportunity to expand the footprint of Scholastic’s authors and illustrators and to build global franchises on every platform, creating more value for the creators and for our shareholders,” said Scholastic Board chair and Scholastic Entertainment president Iole Lucchese.
“We’ve been fortunate to work with Scholastic for decades, going back to my own start with the family-favourite production, The Magic School Bus. We’re eager to begin bringing together our complementary talents to enhance Scholastic’s position as a top developer, producer and distributor of kids and family content,” said 9 Story president and chief executive officer Vince Commisso.
9 Story’s business divisions include the animation studio Brown Bag Films; 9 Story Distribution International, the global distribution division, which represents more than 5,000 half-hour episodes of 2D and 3D animated and live action programming for kids, including Clifford the Big Red Dog and A Kind of Spark. It also includes the consumer products division 9 Story Brands which builds global kids’ brands both on- and off-screen, including Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Karma’s World and Super Why. 9 Story recently announced a significant deal with Crayola Studios to handle production and distribution on all new, original projects, as well as the acquisition of Portfolio Entertainment’s library, production slate, and development projects, which added more than 550 half-hours of content.
Scholastic Entertainment was rebooted under Lucchese’s leadership in 2017, recognising the untapped potential of its children’s content. The company recently announced production of a second season of the live-action Goosebumps series for Disney+ and Hulu.
