MOONBUG ENTERTAINMENT ACQUIRES LITTLE ANGEL AND LITTLE WORLD, FURTHER CEMENTING ITS POSITION AS A WORLD LEADER IN KIDS’ ENTERTAINMENT
Moonbug adds the popular franchise with 1.5 billion monthly views in 19 languages, further growing its portfolio of engaging and inspiring kid-centric brands
The acquisition is Moonbug’s first since becoming a part of Candle Media, the next generation media company run by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs and backed by Blackstone
LONDON – February 9, 2022 – Moonbug Entertainment Ltd., today announced the acquisition of Little Angel, one of the fastest-growing kids channels on YouTube. The Little Angel Network, which houses Little Angel and Little World, boasts more than 88 million subscribers on YouTube globally. Since 2019, the brand has seen its global viewership double. Moonbug plans to grow Little Angel exponentially by investing in content, expanding distribution to its global network, and creating more ways for audiences to engage with the brand.
"Little Angel is loved by families across the globe. Its irreverent humor and relatable world make it a strong addition to our IP portfolio," said Renè Rechtman, Moonbug Entertainment Co-Founder and CEO. "There continues to be a tremendous demand for great value-based kids’ content that connects with a global audience, and this acquisition represents an important opportunity for us to build another global entertainment franchise."
Little Angel is committed to offering fun and relatable content for young children, making it a natural fit for Moonbug's portfolio. The show offers premium 3D content and has a library of over 400 original songs and over 500 animated episodes. Educational specialists weigh-in to ensure all content is centered around valuable preschool lessons like learning letters, numbers, good manners, and healthy habits in an age-appropriate and entertaining way.
Little Angel is Moonbug’s first acquisition since becoming part of Candle Media, an independent, creator-friendly home for cutting-edge, high-quality, category-defining brands and franchises.
“Little Angel is a perfect addition to Moonbug and this acquisition underscores our commitment to investing in the continued growth and success of the companies and brands within Candle,” said Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs of Candle Media.
"We cannot be more thrilled that Little Angel has found the right home with Moonbug," added Hassan Youssef, CEO Valnet Inc.
Moonbug specializes in creating and acquiring IP and turning it into global entertainment franchises, by rapidly scaling the brand using data to increase and enhance the content, distributing broadly across Moonbug’s vast global distribution network, and creating new avenues for interaction through licensing and merchandising, original productions and brand partnerships.
For more information on Moonbug, visit www.moonbug.com.
About Moonbug Entertainment
Moonbug Entertainment is an award-winning global entertainment company behind some of the most popular kids’ titles in the world. Moonbug’s lineup includes global sensations CoComelon, Blippi, Little Baby Bum, Little Angel, My Magic Pet Morphle, Supa Strikas, Go Buster, Playtime with Twinkle, Gecko’s Garage, ARPO and many more.
Moonbug’s shows are on more than 100 platforms globally, including YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Sky, Super RTL, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Tencent, Youku and Roku. In May of 2020, Tubular Labs named Moonbug one of the leading digital kids’ entertainment companies in the world based on the total number of minutes watched worldwide.
The company’s YouTube channels are viewed over 9 billion times on average every month globally and has more than 440m subscribers. Its portfolio currently stands at 29 IPs and 100+ brand partners and is available in 32 languages.
Moonbug is part of Candle Media, an independent, creator-friendly home for cutting-edge, high-quality, category-defining brands and franchises. By bringing together elite talent operating at the intersection of content, community, and commerce, it helps to position leading entertainment businesses for accelerated, sustainable growth in the current market and beyond. Candle is run by its Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs, leading entertainment executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, and backed by investment capital from funds managed by Blackstone’s flagship private equity business.
About Candle Media
Candle is an independent, creator-friendly home for cutting-edge, high-quality, category-defining brands and franchises that is built for the digital age. By bringing together elite talent operating at the intersection of content, community, and commerce, it helps position leading entertainment businesses for accelerated, sustainable growth in the current market and beyond. The company has acquired Hello Sunshine, the mission-driven media company that puts women at the center of every story it creates, founded by Reese Witherspoon; Moonbug Entertainment Ltd., the digital-first, global children’s entertainment company behind highly popular shows such as CoComelon, Blippi, Little Baby Bum; and Faraway Road Productions, founded by Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff, who created the hit shows Fauda and Hit & Run; as well as made a strategic minority investment in Westbrook Inc., the media company founded by Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, Miguel Melendez and Ko Yada, focused on empowering artists to tell stories that connect the world. Candle is run by its Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs, leading entertainment executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, and backed by investment capital from funds managed by Blackstone’s flagship private equity business.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $881 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.
