According to The Information, a business technology-focused blog, AT&T is currently trying to jettison Crunchyroll from its portfolio of entertainment assets. The news comes in the same week that massive layoffs occurred at HBO, DC Universe and DC Comics.
However, Sony is reportedly not willing to pay the offer price of $1.5 billion USD. AT&T apparently arrived at this asking price by valuing the streaming platform at $500 per subscriber (which means that CR currently has 3 million subscribers, while Funimation is rumored to have under 500,000 subscribers). According to the report, it seems Sony is valuing Crunchyroll at $400 per subscriber which means they are willing to pay $1.2 billion to close the deal.
Sony acquired Funimation in 2017 and ended a brief content-sharing agreement between Funimation and Crunchyroll a few months later. Of course, if Crunchyroll and Funimation become joined under one parent company, the well-received alliance could be renewed.
AT&T is currently saddled with a $151 billion debt load and has looked to jettison a number of assets in recent weeks including WB Games. Warner Bros. appears to be a focus for AT&T, as the Harry Potter streaming rights (which are currently at HBO Max) were just sold to NBC/Universal to anchor the new Peacock streaming service. AT&T's merger with Time Warner occurred just before the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic shutdown Hollywood and the rest of the world, which has resulted in declining advertising sales, cord cutting, closed movie theaters and the shutdown of numerous film and television productions.