Sony Is Buying Snoopy for $457 Million in Surprise Acquisition

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In a surprising move, Sony has agreed to purchase the Peanuts brand – including beloved characters like Snoopy and Charlie Brown – for $457 million.

You know, Peanuts is HUGE in Japan and all over Asia right now. It’s seriously cool to see all the stuff they’re doing with the characters – I’ve seen so much Peanuts merch at stores like Uniqlo and GU, and it’s not just those two, either. It’s everywhere!

Sony Music Entertainment, which already owns part of Peanuts, is buying another significant share from Canadian company WildBrain. Combined with its existing ownership and help from Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony will soon control a much larger portion of the Peanuts brand.

This deal will essentially put the brand under full control of the Japanese company, though the Schulz family will still own 20% of it.

Once regulators give the okay, Peanuts Holdings will officially become part of Sony. Sony Music Entertainment in Japan will be in charge of running the business, and Sony Pictures Entertainment will help with management.

Sony Music Entertainment’s Shunsuke Muramatsu said of the deal:

Since 2018, SMEJ has been a partner in bringing ‘Peanuts’ – the beloved, globally recognized entertainment brand with a 75-year history – to audiences around the world. We’re excited to increase our ownership and leverage Sony Group’s worldwide resources and skills to further grow and strengthen the ‘Peanuts’ brand.

Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the rest of the Peanuts gang first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1950, and they’ve remained popular ever since.

This deal isn’t really about PlayStation, but it highlights Sony’s broader goal of becoming a major player in all kinds of entertainment.

Over the last few years, the company has been shifting its focus from consumer electronics to entertainment, making significant investments in areas like anime.

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2025-12-19 08:36