According to information released by The Wrap anime company Crunchyroll is in negotiations to be sold to Sony for $ 1.5 billion
According to the website, AT&T (owner of the Crunchyroll brand) announced the deal. Sony could integrate Crunchyroll as a complement to its distribution platform dedicated to Asian productions, Funimation.
However, informants reported that the price of US$1.5 billion is "above niche streaming values," noting that Sony "refused" to pay that much for a service aimed at anime fans, effectively stalling the negotiation.
No Crunchyroll employee has commented on the sale. Crunchyroll, launched in 2006, was acquired by Otter Media in 2013 for approximately US$100 million. In 2018, this company became a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T.
Finally, we will closely follow all the rumors surrounding the possible sale of Crunchyroll to Sony.