Dr. Seuss’ next chapter: acquisition target

Future. Dr. Seuss Enterprises (the controlling entity of the works of the late Theodor Seuss Geisel) may be exploring a sale. Considering that the books from Dr. Seuss sell more than any other literary collection, the company can expect a heated bidding war if it ultimately decides to look for a buyer.

Green Stacks and Ham
Dr. Seuss Enterprises may be preparing to put itself up for auction.

• According to Axios, the company is talking with bankers to conduct a valuation of the company.
• Why? Because after Netflix’s blockbuster deal for the rights to the Roald Dahl Story Company, the company thinks it can sell for a premium in the marketplace.

It’s still early days, and Dr. Seuss Enterprises may opt-out of a sale, but the fact that this is all public shows that a decision could be made soon.

Oh, the Places You Could Go!
Who would be open to acquiring the company? There are a lot of possibilities:

• NBCUniversal has Seuss Landing at its Orlando theme park.
• Warner Bros. Discovery already has a deal in place to produce animated movies based on Seuss’s works.
• Netflix also has a deal in place to make animated shows on Seuss books.
• Amazon has a baking series in development inspired by Dr. Seuss.

And don’t count out private equity, which has been on an acquisition tear lately, including in the kids’ space (see Candle Media’s $3 billion purchase of Cocomelon-creator Moonbug Entertainment). The thinking is that there’s not a lot of big kid-driven IP out there… but there’s always a demand for it.