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Big Hed wrote:

The bubble hadn't popped when Navarre bought Funimation, which I'm sure has a good deal to do with how much less they sold it for; it's not as bad as it looks (or it was never as good as it seemed).

Quite. The purchase price was originally valued at about 200% of net sales, ~475% of pre-tax income ... though the cash in that amounted to ~140% of net sales, ~340% of pre-tax income.

The sale price was ~68% of net sales, ~240% of pre-tax income.

So Navarre high bidding in a rising market ~ and they ended up buying at the top. High bidders at what turns out, in the rear view mirror, to have been the top of a market always overpay.

Whether or not Gen put in a placeholder bid when Funimation was first offered for sale ~ no other takers appears, and Gen was likely able to pay something very close to Navarre's quit price.

errinundra wrote:

I think a lot will be determined by how much the buyers borrowed to make the purchase. If they borrowed heavily, sales are sluggish and interest rates go up (remember, the US is at the bottom of the economic cycle so they are likely to rise) then they could struggle to invest in new titles.

As far as whether the buyers leveraged to the hilt to buy it ~ why would they? Buying a pure equity stake means that it is likely to weather any serious economic downturn ahead, and if there is a big hit sometime in the next decade, then the returns on this price are substantial enough ~ no pressing need to leverage the returns higher.

Charred Knight wrote:

dragonrider_cody wrote:

Am I the only person that finds it a little depressing that R1's largest anime distributor was sold for only $24 million? Wow! I guess that shows how much the market has shrank, considering Navarre paid over a hundred million for them.

Hell, back in 2006 20% of ADV was sold for only a little less. But on the bright side, it means there will likely be few changes. But considering how tough the home entertainment market is getting, let's hope these investors are patient.

The market collapsed in 2007, Geneon is gone, ADV (as section 23), and Bandai Ent, are barely hanging on, and we are never going to see the return of the major tv series again.

Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but you forgot Right Stuf and Media Blasters. Media Blasters has gotten quiet lately though and Right Stuf is really just making its cash off being a major distributor while picking up a few licenses here and there.

NIS is just getting started, so we'll have to wait and see how that turns out.

Selling for $24 million sounds relatively reasonable considering Navarre mentioned that no "good" buyer was willing to buy Funimation. Considering Funimation was on a "spending spree" and Navarre bought them at an overvalued price, this huge deduction makes logical sense.

So, does this mean that they can finally speed up the DVD/BD releases for the remaining anime (Shana, Railgun, Index, etc.)?

kusanagi-sama wrote:

So, essentially, FUNimation bought themselves back?

Sounds like it yeah.

Well as long as they release faster I dont care who buys what

Dark Absol wrote:

So, does this mean that they can finally speed up the DVD/BD releases for the remaining anime (Shana, Railgun, Index, etc.)?

They delayed a number titles to better stagger their release earlier this year because of fears of market saturation. The fact that those titles haven't gotten announced street dates yet, I would think, would most likely be an on going part of that, and not related to this. Considering that they made a huge number of licensing deals during the middle of the future being up in the air.

good news. FUNI stay healthy.

Kruszer wrote:

kusanagi-sama wrote:

So, essentially, FUNimation bought themselves back?

Sounds like it yeah.

Sounds like that to me. They also paid cash, which impressed me (tat may really be more impressive psychologically vs. reality but it was still impressive IMO). This move also takes them private again, which has some pro's and con's to it but maybe more pro's in this case. The way I'd interpreted it, from what I had read, Funi's being public had been one of the main issues with Navarre. Navarre's stock holders were unhappy with the company for having Funimation, even though Navarre's other business's weren't really looking like they were doing much better (I think Funi was a big target because it wasn't totally in line with Navarre's current plans for its future).

Anyway, this is a major change for Funimation, IMO. It could lead to a slow down in releases for a while (and maybe why we're having some delays at the moment) but the long term for the company may be more stable now (because Funi is moving more into digital delivery and that does seem to be where the Entertainment field is heading right now and Navarre isn't going there).

In a somewhat related note, there are better than 400 billionaires in the US? Goddamn. Spare a few hundred c-notes to help a brother out?

Charred Knight wrote:

dragonrider_cody wrote:

Am I the only person that finds it a little depressing that R1's largest anime distributor was sold for only $24 million? Wow! I guess that shows how much the market has shrank, considering Navarre paid over a hundred million for them.

Hell, back in 2006 20% of ADV was sold for only a little less. But on the bright side, it means there will likely be few changes. But considering how tough the home entertainment market is getting, let's hope these investors are patient.

The market collapsed in 2007, Geneon is gone, ADV (as section 23), and Bandai Ent, are barely hanging on, and we are never going to see the return of the major tv series again.

Actually Geneon is not gone, they are alive and well in Japan, owned by Comcast since Comcast acquired NBCUniversal and Geneon is part of Universal Studios: http://www.nbcuni.com/management/executives-by-business/cunningham

Quote:

UPIE continues to pursue opportunities for international growth, including the acquisition of a majority stake in Geneon in 2009 to form Geneon Universal Entertainment, the leading Hollywood major in market share in Japan.

And Geneon Universal had a panel at Anime Expo 2010: animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2010/geneon-universal-industry-panel

This Q & A Session with a Geneon Universal person confirmed that Geneon is "back" in the U.S.: http://www.mania.com/ax-2010-geneon-universal-entertainment-panel_article_123772.html

Quote:

Q: Geneon USA was formerly closed, does this mean you are back?
A: From now on Geneon itself, will be participating in distributing with like FUNimation and stuff, so they are back

So it looks like Geneon is working with FUNimation here in the U.S.

Okay, thank you, God...I was so scared something awful was going to happen to my beloved FUNi...whew. So everything stays the same.

I freaking love you, Gen Fukunaga! Please, just...just don't leave FUNi...ever...EVER... Anime catgrin + sweatdrop

_V_ wrote:

3 - Most importantly, FUNimation no longer has the protective cushion of Navarre anymore; Navarre isn't going to be there to keep pumping money into them.

4 - will the new investors continue to pump money into FUNimation, or are they on their own now?

Source please. There has never been anything in their quarterly reports to suggest this is the case; in fact, at times it might have been the opposite, with Funi cashflow keeping other parts of Navarre going.

Last edited by agila61 on Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:40 pm; edited 1 time in total

Dark Absol wrote:

So, does this mean that they can finally speed up the DVD/BD releases for the remaining anime (Shana, Railgun, Index, etc.)?

No reason it would. They have been running as a quasi-free-standing company for over a year.

One thing that it may mean movement on, though, is the revamp of their site, since one thing up in the air as long as it was possible they would be bought up by a mid-tier media company was where their new site and its prospective subscription pricing structure fit in that company's internet strategy.

Since they've bought themselves, they can go ahead putting a site together for what they see as their own best interest without worrying about a bigger company's internet strategy.

jsevakis wrote:

_V_ wrote:

3 - Most importantly, FUNimation no longer has the protective cushion of Navarre anymore; Navarre isn't going to be there to keep pumping money into them.

4 - will the new investors continue to pump money into FUNimation, or are they on their own now?

Source please.

roflmao ~ well, really, simcccol ~ sitting in my comfy chair chuckling out loud.

Is "I've said so, so many times, that I've convinced myself" a source?

vega427 wrote:

In a somewhat related note, there are better than 400 billionaires in the US? Goddamn. Spare a few hundred c-notes to help a brother out?

Join the club!

As for FUNi and all, it'll be interesting to see where they decide to take things from here. Perhaps they might be more willing to take on riskier projects. Like finishing Kodocha. HINT. HINT.

Last edited by enurtsol on Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:53 pm; edited 1 time in total

This is like Michael Jordan's ownership group buying the controlling interest of the Charlotte Bobcats after being the guy who's been running the team's basketball operations.

Mr. sickVisionz wrote:

Part of me thinks it's a good thing that Funi is now the pet project of a billionaire anime fan.

Which billionaire anime fan? As far as we know, they're just investors - and just like any investor, they want to grow their money; otherwise, they'd rather invest their money somewhere else where it'll grow faster. So Funimation better pull their own weight. This is no Chelsea! Laughing

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