Patient and painstaking dealmaking has defined the streaming company since before its initial public offering in 2017. By gradually adding Crackle, Screen Media, 1091 Pictures, Sonar Entertainment and other assets to the portfolio, through a series of deals engineered to involve little in the way of up-front cost cash payment, CSSE has steadily become the largest player in ad-supported streaming that is not owned by a major tech or media entity.
Now, though, comes perhaps the biggest round of second-guessing to face the company: In August, it closed a $375 million deal to acquire Redbox, the firm known for its bright red, disc-dispensing kiosks. If Chicken Soup was all about streaming, what did it want with a company still rooted in physical media and tied to — gasp! — brick-and-mortar retail, especially when most of the deal price was Redbox debt that would be taken on by its new parent?
formerly Mad Cornish Projectionist.