DreamWorks, Hasbro merger off

DreamWorks Animation and toy giant Hasbro will not be merging at this stage, according to US reports.

Hasbro’s share price nosedived more than $3 upon news it was in talks to acquire DreamWorks shares at US$35 each in order to create a merged entity, DreamWorks Hasbro, Deadline reported.

Jeffrey Katzenberg’s DreamWorks – behind TV shows such as Kung Fu Panda – Legends of Awesomeness  (pictured) – has been plagued by the poor performance of a series of feature films, which analysts last week referred to when questioning the wisdom of a merger.

DreamWorks was also in talks to sell to Japan’s SoftBank, but those discussions also ended without an agreement.

Deadline reported that though the merger is off for now, there is a chance to plan will be revisited.