Group led by former Disney execs Mayer and Staggs close to US$3 billion Moonbug acquisition

Kevin Mayer

A Blackstong Group-backed investment firm backed by former Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs is nearing a deal to acquire CoComelon media house Moonbug Entertainment.

Moonbug Entertainment is a giant in children’s entertainment. The company, which was founded in 2018, has more than 100 million YouTube subscribers with fans tuning into its content including Little Baby Bum, Blippi and the aforementioned CoComelon.

The deal, according to sources cited by Reuters, would be worth around US$3 billion. Of that total, US$2.75 billion would be paid up front with the remaining US$300 million based on the company’s performance.

This would be the latest acquisition for the investment group under Mayer and Staggs, coming after the August acquisition of Reese Witherspoon’s media company Hello Sunshine. 

Mayer, who had a short stint as CEO of TikTok in mid-2020, oversaw key acquisitions at Disney including the deals to acquire 21st Century Fox, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm. He also was the driving force behind the launch of streaming service Disney+.