Fox Entertainment is buying Bento Box Entertainment, the animation house behind “Bob’s Burgers” and other animated hits.
Fox Entertainment acquired Bento Box, in North Hollywood, for an undisclosed sum although a story on the deal in the Wall Street Journal put the price at less than $50 million.
Fox Entertainment is part of Fox Corp., which owns broadcast and cable networks, television stations and national operations of Fox Sports, among other assets.
The deal is the first significant decision by Fox since spinning off its entertainment assets to Walt Disney Co., which acquired them for $71.3 billion. The acquisition is part of a strategy to build in-house capabilities to fuel its portfolio, Fox said in a release.
Bento Box was found in 2009 by Scott Greenberg and Joel Kuwahara, who will remain with it under Fox. The studio produces the Emmy Award-winning “Bob’s Burgers,” airing on Fox, as well as “Paradise PD” and “Hoops” on Netflix; and Syfy’s “Alien News Desk.” It is making two new series to air on Fox starting next spring, “Duncanville” and “The Great North.”
“The acquisition will provide us with the unique opportunity to build, to grow and to better service our current partners,” Greenberg and Kuwahara said in a statement. “While we’ve always had a special relationship with Fox, we’re so excited to officially be part of the family.”