WildBrain

The company was incorporated in Nova Scotia, Canada, on February 12, 2004, as Slate Entertainment Limited, renamed The Halifax Film Company Limited on April 20, 2004, and renamed DHX Media Ltd. on March 17, 2006.⁠[1]

The company counts 2006 as its founding year, when it went public in a C$20 million initial public offering. Co-founder Michael Donovan had earlier co-founded Salter Street Films and served as chief executive from the company’s founding until August 2014.⁠[2]

On September 14, 2010, the company announced it had acquired Los Angeles-based W!LDBRAIN Entertainment for about US$8 million in cash, plus further consideration tied to Yo Gabba Gabba!’s performance over three years; the deal added 53 episodes of the show. Its shares then traded on AIM and the Toronto Stock Exchange.⁠[3]

On October 22, 2012, the company closed its acquisition of the Cookie Jar Entertainment business for 36,044,492 common shares, C$5 million in cash and the assumption of C$65.5 million of debt, expanding its library from about 2,550 to about 8,550 half-hours.⁠[4]

On March 5, 2013, the company appointed Peter Byrne, formerly of HIT Entertainment and 20th Century Fox, as chief executive of its wholly owned licensing agency, Copyright Promotions Licensing Group (CPLG).⁠[5]

On September 16, 2013, the company announced it was buying Ragdoll Worldwide from BBCBBCThe BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the United Kingdom’s public broadcaster. Its predecessor was the British Broadcasting Company, formed in 1922, and since 1927 it has been established under a Royal Charter. It provides television, radio, and online services in the UK, is funded mainly by the television licence fee, and broadcasts worldwide in multiple languages through BBC World Service.Open the full entry Worldwide and a group including Anne WoodAnne WoodAnne Wood is a British children’s television producer who founded Ragdoll Productions in 1984 and co-created the pre-school series Teletubbies with Andrew Davenport; earlier she founded the children’s book magazine Books for Your Children and the Federation of Children’s Book Groups.Open the full entry for £17.4 million (about C$28.4 million) in cash, gaining 1,353 episodes across 12 properties, including 365 episodes of Teletubbies and 100 of In the Night Garden.⁠[6]

On April 3, 2014, the company announced it was acquiring Epitome, the Toronto producer of Degrassi led by Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn, for about C$33 million, roughly C$19.5 million in cash and the rest in shares.⁠[7]

On July 31, 2014, the company completed its acquisition of four channels, Family Channel, Disney XD and the English- and French-language Disney Junior, for about C$170 million in cash; the same day Michael Donovan became executive chairman and Dana Landry was promoted to chief executive.⁠[8]

On December 23, 2014, the company announced it had closed the C$57.0 million acquisition of Vancouver animation studio Nerd Corps Entertainment, paid partly with 2,693,748 shares; Nerd Corps brought more than 200 half-hours of content, including Slugterra.⁠[9]

The company’s variable voting shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol DHXM on June 23, 2015, while trading continued on the Toronto Stock Exchange as DHX.A and DHX.B.⁠[10]

On November 24, 2015, Michael Donovan was named Canada’s 2015 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year. The company then held a library of more than 11,000 half-hours and employed more than 1,100 people.⁠[2]

On April 25, 2016, the company announced that WildBrain, a wholly owned subsidiary incubated since 2012, was leaving the incubator phase; the multi-platform kids network had more than 350 channels and over 15,000 videos on YouTube and was led by managing director John Robson.⁠[11]

In 2017 the company acquired 80% of Peanuts and 100% of Strawberry Shortcake for C$448 million.⁠[12]

On February 26, 2018, Dana Landry stepped down as chief executive and left the board; executive chair Michael Donovan was appointed chief executive, and Doug Lamb became chief financial officer.⁠[13]

On May 13, 2018, the company announced the sale of 49% of its 80% interest in Peanuts to Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. for US$185 million in cash, leaving it with 41%, the buyer with 39% and the Schulz family with 20%; proceeds were earmarked to repay term debt.⁠[14]

On September 24, 2018, a special board committee concluded the strategic review without a sale of the whole company; the company suspended its quarterly dividend and said debt had been reduced by C$209.0 million, with C$11 million in annualized operating savings.⁠[15]

On November 8, 2018, the company announced the sale of its Halifax animation studio to consolidate animation production, while keeping This Hour Has 22 Minutes.⁠[16]

On December 21, 2018, the company announced the sale was complete.⁠[17]

On August 29, 2019, Eric Ellenbogen, former president and CEO of Marvel Enterprises and co-founder of Classic Media in 2000, became chief executive and vice chair; Michael Donovan stepped down as executive chair to serve as founding chair, and Donald Wright became non-executive chair.⁠[18]

On September 23, 2019, the company released fiscal 2019 results showing revenue of C$439.8 million and a net loss of C$101.5 million for the year ended June 30, 2019, and announced plans to rename itself WildBrain and change its ticker to WILD.⁠[19]

A rights offering that expired on November 15, 2019, issued 35,928,144 shares at C$1.67 each for gross proceeds of C$60.0 million, C$50.0 million of which went to reduce the term loan.⁠[20]

On December 5, the company announced that, because the cost of a dual listing was not justified, it would voluntarily delist from Nasdaq and deregister its shares in the United States while continuing to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange.⁠[21]

On December 18, 2019, the company formally changed its name to WildBrain Ltd.⁠[1]

On May 13, 2020, the company released third-quarter results showing revenue of C$98.3 million and said global advertising pullbacks due to COVID-19 had hurt revenue late in the quarter; it also announced that Fine Capital Partners would buy up to C$25.0 million of exchangeable secured debentures.⁠[22]

On March 26, 2021, the company completed a refinancing with a seven-year US$285 million senior secured term loan and a five-year US$30 million revolving facility, repaying its existing US$276.5 million term facility.⁠[23]

On September 10, 2021, Apple TV+ ordered a new 20-episode half-hour Yo Gabba Gabba! series to be made with Yo Gabba Gabba LLC, and acquired the classic series and specials.⁠[24]

On March 28, 2023, the company announced a C$15.5 million deal for House of Cool, a Toronto pre-production company founded in 2004, with a potential earn-out of up to C$6 million.⁠[25]

On May 9, 2023, Josh Scherba, president since 2018, was promoted to president and CEO as Eric Ellenbogen stepped down as CEO and vice chair.⁠[26]

On July 19, 2023, the company closed the acquisition, paying C$10.25 million of it by issuing 4,479,406 shares.⁠[27]

In November 2023, Nick Gawne, formerly an executive vice president at eOne, succeeded Aaron Ames as chief financial officer, and chief operating officer Deirdre Brennan departed.⁠[28]

On July 23, 2024, the company announced a US$415 million senior secured facility with private lenders led by Sagard and Comvest Credit Partners, comprising a US$375 million term loan and a US$40 million revolver and extending maturities to 2029.⁠[29]

On September 30, 2024, the company fully repaid C$140 million of 5.875% convertible debentures, which were delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange that day.⁠[30]

On December 18, 2024, the company agreed to sell a two-thirds stake in its television broadcast business (Family Channel, Family Jr., WildBrainTV and Télémagino) to Halifax-based IoM Media Ventures, expecting more than C$40 million over four years, subject to approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.⁠[31]

On August 25, 2025, the company said it had failed to reach a new carriage deal with Rogers, after Bell had already decided to drop the channels, so the IoM sale would not proceed and it would stop broadcasting and surrender the licences once Rogers removed them.⁠[32]

On October 22, 2025, the channels were removed from Rogers and the company ceased broadcast operations; the licences were revoked on October 31.⁠[1]

On December 18, 2025, the company agreed to sell its 41% stake in Peanuts Holdings to Sony for C$630 million in cash to fully repay its senior secured credit facility; it would remain Peanuts’ exclusive licensing agent in Europe and other regions and the exclusive studio for new content.⁠[12]

On March 2, 2026, the company completed the sale and repaid the entire outstanding balance of its senior secured credit facility, with a cash surplus of more than C$40 million.⁠[33]

On April 8, 2026, the company announced a bid to repurchase up to 11,418,541 common shares, about 10% of the public float, between April 10, 2026, and April 9, 2027; it had 213,814,293 common shares outstanding as of March 31.⁠[34]

Third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue from continuing operations, released in May 2026, was C$61.2 million, down 16%; global licensing revenue rose 35% to C$25.1 million and gross margin increased from 33% to 46%, driven by Strawberry Shortcake and Teletubbies.⁠[35]

On August 24, 2026, the company announced the acquisition of Personality AI, founded by John Goscha in 2025, which had developed the Hey Peppa Pig interactive AI experience with Hasbro; consideration included about US$11 million in cash and 1,000,000 company shares, plus up to US$56 million tied to 2027–2029 revenue targets.⁠[36]

On September 23, 2026, the company released results showing fiscal 2026 revenue from continuing operations of C$245.7 million for the year ended June 30, down 10%, and a net loss from continuing operations attributable to shareholders of C$74.9 million; in June it had opened WildBrain Garden, a Teletubbies and In the Night Garden retail space in China.⁠[37]

It then announced a modified Dutch auction issuer bid of up to C$20 million starting September 29, at C$1.30 to C$1.45 per share and expiring November 3, suspending its normal course bid in the meantime.⁠[38]

The company is headquartered in Toronto and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol WILD; its franchises include Strawberry Shortcake, Teletubbies, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Inspector Gadget and Degrassi, licensing is handled by WildBrain CPLG, and the WildBrain Network runs more than 1,000 channels on YouTube and other platforms.⁠[39]

WildBrain: Official website: https://www.wildbrain.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[39]

WildBrain Investor Relations: Official website: https://investors.wildbrain.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[40]