Ancora's eOne campaign helped Hasbro sell its film studio to Lionsgate

In May 2022 Ancora Holdings, holding about 1% of Hasbro, sent the board a letter urging a full or partial sale of Entertainment One, arguing the unit bought for $4 billion in 2019 could yield up to $2 billion and tax benefits while cutting debt. The move followed pressure from Alta Fox over the Wizards of the Coast spin-off.

Hasbro launched a strategic review and, in August 2023, agreed to sell eOne's film and TV business to Lionsgate for about $500 million — $375 million in cash plus assumption of production financing loans — while retaining its animation assets and Hasbro-branded entertainment.

CEO Chris Cocks called the sale the culmination of the review and a milestone in Blueprint 2.0: proceeds retired at least $400 million of floating-rate debt by year-end, and Hasbro moved to an asset-lite live-action model built on licensing and co-productions.

eOne's film and TV business sold to Lionsgate for ~$500M ($375M cash plus loan assumption), funding $400M+ of debt retirement under Blueprint 2.0.

Ancora's letter made eOne's sale a board-level question rather than an option.

The studio was capital-heavy and outside Hasbro's toy-and-gaming core.

Debt reduction was urgent after years of leveraged acquisition.

Retaining Peppa Pig and animation kept the entertainment optionality.

A divestiture an activist demands can become the company's own strategy if it fits the turnaround: sell the expensive non-core asset, pay down debt, and reinvest in the brands that work.

The eOne sale closed in late 2023, and Hasbro concentrated Blueprint 2.0 investment on priority brands such as Transformers, Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. The divestiture became a reference point for Hasbro's deleveraging and licensing-led entertainment strategy.