Sony is buying Crunchyroll anime streaming service for USD 957 Million!

Nikkei Asia reports that Sony has entered final negotiations in acquiring the US-based anime streaming Crunchyroll from AT&T.

Final negotiations are on-going

Sony acquiring Crunchyroll?

Crunchyroll was founded in 2006 in San Francisco. Twelve years later in 2018, US telecommunications giant AT&T acquired the streaming service company. Currently, Crunchyroll has over 70 Million free members and over 3 Million paying subscribers from over 200 countries worldwide.

Today, Nikkei Asia reports that Sony is in final negotiations in acquiring US anime streaming service Crunchyroll from AT&T. In the report, Nikkei Asia says that Sony could be spending over a 100 Billion Japanese Yen or around 957 Million US Dollars.

If the acquisition pulls through, global competition for content among companies like Netflix and Hulu may intensify as it will give Sony over a thousand titles that it can use to vary its current offerings.

This major move from the Japanese giant isn't a surprise as in 2018, the Association of Japanese Animations estimate that the global anime market is worth over USD 21 Billion.

What do you guys think?

Source: Nikkei Asia