Completion of sale follows ongoing legal dispute around hit kids franchise
China’s Wanda Studios has completed a $49m (£36.7m) deal to buy Sony Pictures Television’s stake in Vampire Squid Productions (VSP), handing it full control of hit kids franchise Octonauts.
The deal wraps a long-running legal dispute between Sony’s Columbia Pictures and Wanda, which began when the Chinese company acquired a 51% stake in VSP - the holding company for Octonauts - in 2017.
As part of the agreement, Wanda had an agreement clause to buy out the outstanding 49% stake, which at the time was held by Silvergate Media.
SPT’s Columbia acquired Silvergate in 2019 and subsequently informed Wanda that it wanted to exercise its right to sell its 49% stake, placing a $87.4m price tag on the asset.
However, the two sides disagreed on price, prompting legal action between the parties. A subsequent ruling at the High Court in London last year confirmed that the cost should be $49m, with the deal quietly wrapping earlier in 2026.
Octonauts is one of the world’s biggest kids brands, having debuted on the BBC in 2010. It follows a crew of underwater adventurers living in an ‘octopod’ who save aquatic wildlife and explore environmental issues.
The show has sold widely around the world, with deals in the UK with Netflix and the BBC.
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