Proposed 2019 acquisition of Gingo by NBCUniversal

The proposed 2019 acquisition of Gingo Entertainment by NBCUniversal was announced on August 25, 2019. The merger would reunite Gingo Animation and Universal Animation Studios after their separation in February 2005.



Background
Aleka Productions was created in 1982 as the feature animation division of Gingo Animation, and was spun off into Universal Studios' animation unit in 1996. However, in 1998, Universal acquired Gingo, creating the combined company Universal/Gingo Animation, the North Hollywood branch of its new business division. During the Universal/Gingo merger, former Gingo founder Michael Wildshill and his Universal Animation team were heavily involved in the production of many Gingo-produced animated series and films (including The Gabriel Garza Movie in 2002 and Zina and the Vivid Crew in 2004) as well as the development of some of Gingo's in-house video games via Gingo Interactive, such as Jenny Zoom for the Sony PlayStation released in 1999. In early 2005, Gingo Animation was spun off into a separate independent company via Gingo Entertainment, promoting Wildshill to remain on board as a consultant while Universal handles the rights to the pre-2005 Gingo library.

History
On November 2, 2016, after their successful attempt at buying DreamWorks Animation, Comcast (the owner of Universal Pictures' parent company NBCUniversal) sent a letter to Gingo Animation and Universal Animation Studios (which currently handles the pre-2005 Gingo library), encouraging the two studios to merge back into one animation studio. NBCUniversal's Universal Pictures already owns three animation studios: Universal Animation, Illumination Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation. Universal Animation Studios' CEO Michael Wildshill would once again oversee both Gingo and Universal Animation following the completion of the merger. If approved by federal regulators, the merger would reunite Gingo's properties under the same umbrella as Universal Animation, with the intention of treating the company similarly to Marvel Studios as well as strengthening the relationship between Universal and Gingo.

The deal has faced criticism for the possibility that Universal could operate too many animation studios to mimic that of The Walt Disney Company (which owns Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar) and focus too much on animated films. On November 17, 2016, the Department of Justice filing an antitrust lawsuit over the acquisition explaining, "it can cause a huge negative impact on the animation audience and cause less competition due to how big the deal is." On January 21, 2017, the deal was called off.

On August 23, 2018, it was reported by the Los Angeles Times that NBCUniversal had re-entered talks to acquire Gingo and merge the studio into Universal Animation. Both Gingo and NBCUniversal stated that the merger would not affect any films in production prior to the deal (such as Addie and The Boy and the Ape for Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation), nor any Glass Ball Productions properties (with most of them being owned by the Walt Disney Studios via 20th Century Fox) as well as any preexisting deals with other film studios for the time being, although NBCUniversal said they would distribute future Gingo projects under Universal once the deals expired. The proposed deal would have Universal bring Gingo back under the Universal umbrella and gain full control to the film rights of the post-2004 Gingo library (excluding the Universal-distributed films) with films distributed by studios other than Universal having their distribution rights expire in 2020.

On September 28, 2018, District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in favor of NBCUniversal, thus allowing the acquisition to go ahead with no conditions or remedies. Leon argued that the Department of Justice provided insufficient evidence that the proposed transaction would result in lessened competition. He also warned the government that attempting to obtain an appeal or stay on the ruling would be manifest unjust, as it would cause "certain irreparable harm to the defendants."

On July 2, 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported that Gingo Entertainment and Universal Animation would explore merger discussions in mid-August 2019. Reports said that Universal and Gingo reportedly set September 12 as an informal deadline for reaching an agreement to recombine the two media companies. NBCUniversal announced to acquire Gingo as part of the re-merger deal for up to $64.9 billion.

On August 19, 2019, it was reported that NBCUniversal agreed to merge Gingo back into Universal, pending approval from the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division. However, on August 21, 2019, NBCUniversal delayed its acquisition of Gingo as the two companies report the quarterly earnings, though the talks about the re-merger continued.

On August 25, NBCUniversal and Gingo officially announced their merger. Clive Nakayashiki and Athena Christaniakis will retain as co-presidents of Gingo Animation and Glass Ball Productions, while Michael Wildshill will return as chairman and CEO of both Gingo and Universal Animation, where he will oversee the Gingo-branded properties. NBCUniversal also announced that both the Gingo and Glass Ball labels (alongside Creative Step Studio) would be integrated as new units within the Universal Animation Studios while NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group will take full ownership of the Gingo Channel, in which Universal owned 50% with Gingo.