Saban Capital Group

Saban Capital Group, Inc. is an American investment firm based in Los Angeles, California focused on media, entertainment, and communications investments. Formed in 2010 by Haim Saban, Saban Capital Group owns Saban Brands, part of Univision Communications, and part of Celestial Tiger Entertainment.

History
In October 2006, SCG's Saban Entertainment Group division announced the beginning of its virtual studio program for starting up and developing family entertainment. In March 2007, Univision Communications was sold to Broadcasting Media Partners which includes Saban Capital Group, Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, TPG Capital, and Thomas H. Lee Partners. On October 17, 2011, Saban Capital Group acquired 7.5% stake in Jakarta-based Indonesian largest integrated media company, Media Nusantara Citra. In July 2012, Saban Capital Group acquired minority stake in PT MNC Sky Vision Tbk, the largest pay-TV operator in Indonesia which owns Indovision and Top TV. In June 2012, Kidsco Media Ventures LLC, a SCG affiliate, jointly with Konami's 4K Acquisition Corp. purchased some of the key assets of 4Kids Entertainment with Kidsco getting the Dragon Ball Z Kai, Cubix, Sonic X and The CW Network's Saturday Morning programming block contract rights. In August 2012, Saban Capital Group launched a new music publishing division called "Music Ventures".

On May 6, 2014, Saban Capital announced the launch of Saban Films, a distribution company that will acquire yearly 8 to 10 feature films for the North American market. Bill Bromiley from RLJ Entertainment was appointed president of this company as of Cannes Film Festival 2014.

In September 13, 2018, Saban Capital Acquisition Corp. announced the purchase of Panavision and Sim Video International in a $622 million cash and stock deal. The transaction is aimed at creating a comprehensive production and post-production entity. Saban Capital Acquisition Corp. intends to change its name to Panavision Holdings Inc. and is expected to continue to trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Saban Brands
On May 5, 2010, Saban Capital Group announced that it would start Saban Brands (SB), a successor company to Saban Entertainment dedicated to acquiring entertainment and consumer brands. On May 12, 2010, it was announced that Saban Brands bought back the Power Rangers franchise from Disney for $43 million and would produce a new nineteenth season of Power Rangers that began airing on Nickelodeon on February 7, 2011, with the previous 700 episodes being rerun on Nicktoons. It was also announced that Saban Brands is in negotiations to buy three other brands. On August 17, 2010, it was announced that Saban Brands bought Paul Frank Industries.

On May 1, 2012, Kidsco Media Ventures LLC, an affiliate of Saban Capital Group, placed a bid to acquire some of 4Kids Entertainment's assets, including the US rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise and The CW4Kids block, for $10 million. 4K Acquisition Corp, a subsidiary of Konami, then placed a bid. On June 5, 2012, 4Kids commenced an auction between Kidsco and 4K Acquisition which was then adjourned so 4Kids, Kidsco, and 4K Acquisition could consider an alternative transaction. On June 15, 2012, 4Kids filed a notice outlining a proposed deal in which its assets would be divided between Kidsco and 4K Acquisition which was finalized on June 26, 2012. The deal saw 4K Acquisition acquire the US rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise and Kidsco acquire 4Kids' other assets including the agreements for Dragon Ball Z Kai, Cubix: Robots for Everyone, Sonic X and The CW Network's Saturday morning programming block. On July 2, 2012, it was announced that Saban Brands, via Kidsco Media Ventures, would begin programming the block in the fall,   and on July 12, 2012 announced that the block would be named Vortexx, which launched on August 25, 2012 and ended on September 27, 2014.

On June 12, 2012, it was announced that Saban Brands plans to reintroduce the Popples franchise with new merchandise in fall 2013. On August 3, 2012, it was announced that Saban Brands acquired The Playforge, the development team behind App Store success stories Zombie Farm and Zombie Life. On September 19, 2012, Saban Brands announced that they acquired Zui provider of Kid-Safe Online content. On September 25, 2012, Saban Brands announced that they re-acquired the Digimon franchise and its most recent season, Digimon Fusion with Toei Animation handling Asian licensing & distribution and MarVista Entertainment handling all other global licensing & distribution.

On July 3, 2013, it was announced that Saban Brands signed a deal to manage the distribution, licensing, and merchandising of Sendokai Champions in North America and Israel and be broadcast on the Vortexx. In October 2013, Saban Brands shut down The Playforge because of poor game sales.

Saban Brands and Lionsgate Films announced in May 2014 that they are planning to produce a new Power Rangers feature film, and would hopefully launch a Power Rangers film franchise. By August 4, Saban Brands sold KidZui to Leapfrog Enterprises. Later on, Macbeth Footwear was acquired by Saban Brands, and in December, Saban Brands formed two divisions Saban Brands Lifestyle Group and Saban Brands Entertainment Group to expand their holdings. On January 6, 2014, it was announced that Saban Brands Lifestyle Group acquired Mambo Graphics. On March 24, 2015, it was announced that Saban Brands Lifestyle Group had acquired Piping Hot. Saban Brands developed its first two properties, Kibaoh Klashers and Treehouse Detectives, as animated series which were pick up by Netflix in October 2016.

In February 2018, Saban Brands appointed Hasbro as the global master toy licensee for Power Rangers in April 2019 with a future option to purchase the franchise. On May 1, 2018, Saban agreed to sell Power Rangers and other entertainment assets to Hasbro for US$522 million in cash and stock, with the sale expected to closed in the second quarter. Other properties in the deal include My Pet Monster, Popples, Julius Jr., Luna Petunia, and Treehouse Detectives. In addition to the number of franchises still currently owned by Saban, they'll most likely be transferred over to Hasbro. Only nine existing employees out of sixty would be retained by SCG, and the Saban Brands subsidiary ended operations upon the close of business on July 2, 2018.

Units

 * Saban Entertainment Group
 * Saban Films
 * Saban Real Estate, LLC
 * Saban Brands, LLC
 * Saban Brands Lifestyle Group
 * Paul Frank Industries
 * Macbeth Footwear
 * Mambo Graphics
 * Piping Hot
 * Saban Brands Entertainment Group (now acquired by Hasbro)
 * SCG Power Rangers LLC (acquired by Hasbro)
 * SCG Characters LLC (acquired by Hasbro)
 * SCG Luna Petunia LLC (acquired by Hasbro)
 * Saban Brands Voyagers LLC (acquired by Hasbro)
 * Treehouse Detectives LLC (acquired by Hasbro)

Current

 * Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE) (JV)
 * Media Nusantara Citra (MNC) 7.5% stake
 * Taomee (minority stake)
 * Playbuzz (2016)
 * Bustle
 * IronSource
 * Broadcasting Media Partners (20%)
 * Univision Communications, Inc.
 * Panavision
 * Sim Video International

Past

 * Bezeq
 * Keshet Broadcasting LTD
 * ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG
 * Vessel

Political activities
The Saban Group is a top contributor to the Democratic Party. It has donated to former President Barack Obama's campaign and was one of the top donors of the Clinton Campaign of 2016 with a contribution of approximately 12 million dollars.

Saban Entertainment Group

 * Hollywood Star Dogs

Saban Brands (former)
Most of this properties were created and/or owned by Saban Capital Group subsidiary Saban Brands. Most of these properties are now owned by Hasbro or other companies:
 * Beetleborgs  (currently by Hasbro and Toei Company)
 * Cirque du Soleil Media
 * CNCO
 * Cubix (currently by Hasbro)
 * Emojiville
 * Kibaoh Klashers (2017) (currently by Netflix)
 * La Banda
 * Macbeth Footwear
 * Masked Rider (currently by Hasbro and Toei Company)
 * Mambo Graphics
 * MIX5
 * Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog (currently by Hasbro)
 * Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (currently by Hasbro, Mirage Studios and Viacom International)
 * Paul Frank
 * Piping Hot
 * Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty (currently by Funrise, Inc)
 * Shinzo (currently by Hasbro and Toei Animation)
 * VR Troopers  (currently by Hasbro and Toei Company)
 * Digimon (currently by Hasbro and Toei Animation) (all seasons except Digimon Adventure tri and Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters)
 * Sonic X (currently by Discotek Media and Sega)
 * Power Rangers (currently by Hasbro and Toei Company)
 * Glitter Force (currently by Toei Animation, Toei Company, Netflix and Hasbro)
 * Treehouse Detectives (currently by Hasbro)
 * My Pet Monster purchased from American GreetingsTCFC, Inc. (currently by Hasbro)
 * Popples purchased from American GreetingTCFC, Inc. (currently by Hasbro)
 * Luna Petunia (currently by Hasbro)
 * Julius Jr. (currently by Hasbro)