Publicly traded kids content company Wow! Unlimited Media says it is exploring a range of “strategic alternatives” as it seeks new ways to grow the business in an ultra-competitive entertainment space.

The company said it is conducting a “fulsome” examination of all its potential options, which could include a merger, acquisition, financing, the sale of certain assets or the whole company, or other strategic transactions.

In its fiscal 2020 report, published at the close of market on Thursday (April 29), Wow! Unlimited posted annual revenue of $61.1 million ($35.6 million from its Networks and Platforms segment and $25.5 million for the animation segment), down from $103.9 million the prior year.

The decrease was due largely to a $38-million decline in its Networks and Platforms segment, following the previously announced termination of the ADME agreement with Channel Frederator Network.

Its animation production segment fell by $4.7 million compared to the prior year, which the company attributed to there being more IP deliveries in 2019. EBITDA for the year increased to $2.1 million, compared with $1.4 million the prior year, due to a reduction in operating costs due to previously announced restructuring at its subsidiary Frederator, according to Wow! Unlimited.

However, with a $95-million backlog in production revenue (its largest to date), the company says it is well positioned for the future.

Throughout the pandemic, the company’s employee headcount has grown to 550, from 410, allowing it to expand its animation pipeline and complete production on multiple series including Barbie Princess Adventure (produced for Mattel), Madagascar: A Little Wild, produced for DreamWorks Animation, and its proprietary projects Castlevania (season four, Netflix, pictured) and Bee & PuppyCat: Lazy in Space (picked up by Netflix in October 2020),

On an investor call on Friday, chairman and CEO Michael Hirsh said that – at a time when its stock is being ignored – the company is going public with its intention to conduct a strategic review to give itself a better chance of arriving at a favourable outcome. For the past 12 months, Wow! has traded at less than 60 cents per share on the Toronto Stock Exchange. At press time, its stock had climbed to 80 cents per share following the release of its year-end financials.

“As you can tell, we’re excited about our prospects for the future and look forward to a great year. And although we have our greatest backlog in contracted production orders in our company’s history – more than $95 million – and delivered our best year ever, our stock is still ignored and undervalued by the marketplace.”

When quizzed by analysts as to why now was the right time to explore strategic alternatives, Hirsh said the company has analyzed many different scenarios and believes there are a wealth of market opportunities that could further Wow! Unlimited’s business goals.

“In order to be a meaningful player, we [believe] that achieving growth this year is important – not only organically but inorganically as well. Given all those factors, we decided to go now,” Hirsh said of the company, which launched in 2016.

Elsewhere, the company highlighted several new project it has in the works, including a new project it is producing for Spin Master. It is also in production on new Barbie projects for Mattel, seasons five through eight of Octonauts for Silvergate, and recently acquired the series rights to Parasol Protectorate, based on the on the steampunk urban fantasy novel series, and Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, based on the award-winning hit preschool show produced originally by Hirsh at Nelvana.