Justin Nihiser, Barry Gibson & Matt Rogers Acquire WonderPlay Brands (Kidcreate Studio)

Penguin Random House Acquires Wonderbly

June 4, 2025

Media & Entertainment

Penguin Random House has acquired Wonderbly, the London-based leader in personalized gift books. Wonderbly will operate independently within Penguin Random House under its existing leadership, with the acquisition intended to accelerate growth, expand reach and leverage Wonderbly's direct-to-consumer personalization capabilities.

ArtCreativity Acquires Wooly Willy Brand from PlayMonster Group

February 12, 2026

Consumer Products

ArtCreativity has acquired the iconic Wooly Willy brand from PlayMonster Group. The deal transfers ownership of the long-running novelty toy to ArtCreativity, which plans to expand the brand globally and develop new products; financial terms were not disclosed.

Stronger Youth Brands Acquires Little Kickers

October 31, 2022

Education

Stronger Youth Brands, the PE-backed youth enrichment franchisor platform (backed by Susquehanna Private Capital), has acquired Little Kickers, an international franchisor of preschool soccer programs based in the United Kingdom. Little Kickers will continue to operate as a standalone brand and the acquisition expands Stronger Youth Brands' global footprint and franchise network.

Wondr Gaming Corp. Acquires JoyBox Media Inc.

October 22, 2021

Marketing & Advertising

Wondr Gaming Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding common shares of JoyBox Media Inc., a media network and influencer marketing agency, in a transaction comprised of common shares of Wondr and cash payments tied to revenue milestones. The acquisition is intended to add viral content, influencer marketing and campaign capabilities to Wondr’s NFT, loyalty and media offerings and is expected to close around early November 2021 (closing later announced in March 2022).

Genius Brands Acquires WOW! Unlimited Media

October 27, 2021

Media & Entertainment

Genius Brands International (NASDAQ: GNUS) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire WOW! Unlimited Media Inc. for approximately US$53 million in cash and stock, creating a combined animation and digital media company. The deal adds WOW!'s Frederator and Mainframe studios, a large YouTube network and contracted production backlog, expanding Genius Brands' production capacity, audience demographics and monetization channels.

Light & Wonder Acquires Playzido

May 10, 2022

Software

Light & Wonder, Inc. has acquired Playzido, a London-based open game development platform and content provider, to expand its iGaming content creation and distribution capabilities. The acquisition adds Playzido’s Remote Gaming Server (RGS) technology and studio-facing platform to Light & Wonder’s OpenGaming aggregation network, accelerating custom game development and global distribution.