Approved · Waiver · decided in 17 days, 19 Feb 2026
Sony acquired 100% of the voting securities of DHX Entertainment (USA) Inc., a holding company with a controlling interest in Peanuts Worldwide. This transaction involves the licensing of the Peanuts brand (Snoopy, Charlie Brown) and related film/TV content, within the motion picture and video production/distribution industries. The Shulz family retains a 20% stake.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (SPE) and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. (SMEJ) (together with Sony Group Corporation, Sony) propose to acquire 100% of the voting securities of DHX Entertainment (USA) Inc. (DHX). The acquirer, Sony, is a global entertainment and technology business headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. It operates in sectors such as game and network services, music, pictures, entertainment services, imaging solutions, and financial services. The target, DHX, is a holding company with a controlling interest in Peanuts Worldwide. Peanuts Worldwide owns, manages, and licenses copyrights and other intellectual property rights of the Peanuts brand. This includes characters such as Snoopy and Charlie Brown. The family of Charles M Shulz, creator of Peanuts, will retain its 20% stake in the brand. Sony and Peanuts Worldwide are both active in character intellectual property licensing for various customer use cases and the licensing of film and TV content related to those characters, globally and in Australia.