Sony’s Funimation Global Group Purchases Crunchyroll From AT&T for $1.175 Billion

At&T announced that it has agreed to sell its Crunchyroll anime business to Funimation Global Group, LLC. Funimation is a joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment, Aniplex.

The agreed purchase was for $1.175 Billion. Crunchyroll serves 90 million registered users across 200 countries. The company publishes mobile games, manga, holds events, and handles the distribution of anime licenses. The combination of Crunchyroll and Funimation aims to “broaden distribution for their content partners and expand fan-centric offering for consumers.”

“We are excited to embark on this new journey. Crunchyroll has built a world-class brand with a passionate fan-base of over 3M subscribers, 50M social followers and 90M registered users. These amazing fans have helped to propel anime into a global phenomenon,” said Joanne Waage, general manager of Crunchyroll. “Combining the strength of the Crunchyroll brand and the expertise of our global team with Funimation is an exciting prospect and a win for the incredible art form of anime.”

“The Crunchyroll team has done an extraordinary job of not only growing the Crunchyroll brand but also building a passionate community of anime fans. Crunchyroll’s success is a direct result of the company’s culture and commitment to their fans,” said Tony Goncalves, Chief Revenue Officer, WarnerMedia. “By combining with Funimation, they will continue to nurture a global community and bring more anime to more people. I’m incredibly proud of the Crunchyroll team and what they have been able to accomplish in the digital media space in such a short period of time. They’ve created an end-to-end global ecosystem for this incredible art form.”

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on how this affects your current accounts with either service. Let us know what you think in the comments below.