The Power Rangers franchise is a syndicated American version of Japan’s Sentai shows. Saban Brands previously owned the rights to the property, but now, they have sold it to Hasbro. And it didn’t just include merchandising for the toys and other merchandise, but the entire franchise itself.

A Hasbro Press Release revealed the details of the purchase:

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), a global play and entertainment company, and Saban Properties LLC today announced that the companies have signed a definitive agreement for Hasbro to purchase Saban’s Power Rangers and several other entertainment brands, including My Pet Monster, Popples, Julius Jr., Luna Petunia, Treehouse Detectives and others, in a combination of cash and stock valued at $522 million.

Hasbro has previously paid Saban Brands $22.25 million pursuant to the Power Rangers master toy license agreement, announced by the parties in February of 2018, that was scheduled to begin in 2019. Those amounts are being credited against the purchase price. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Hasbro will pay an additional $229.75 million in cash and will issue $270 million worth of Hasbro common stock for the Power Rangers brand and several other entertainment brands. The agreement includes all related intellectual property, category rights and content libraries owned by Saban Properties and its affiliates. The transaction is subject to a number of customary closing conditions, including obtaining required regulatory approvals, and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2018.

The transaction, including intangible amortization expense, is not expected to have a material impact on Hasbro’s 2018 results of operations.

Hasbro chairman and CEO Brian Goldner explained their decision to buy the entire franchise in a public statement:

“Power Rangers is an iconic brand built on a heritage of great storytelling and merchandising with tremendous upside potential when fully executed across Hasbro’s Brand Blueprint. Shortly after entering into our licensing arrangement, it became clear that now was the time to begin investing in unlocking Power Rangers’ full potential. We see significant opportunity for Power Rangers across our entire Brand Blueprint, including toys and games, consumer products, digital gaming and entertainment, as well as geographically throughout our global retail footprint.”

Of course, they are using US dollars here, and that means that the franchise has costed Hasbro a ton of money to purchase. Bandai previously owned the rights to producing the merchandise before Hasbro took over. As for Sentai fans, the purchase drew mixed reactions, with some groaning that Hasbro will only be interested in selling toys. However, there are still a few fans which are hoping that Hasbro would be a bit more loyal to the Sentai source material.

Source: Toy Ark