WildBrain is expanding its in-house animation capabilities with the acquisition of Toronto-based pre-production studio House of Cool.

The $15.5 million deal will see WildBrain pay $5.25 million in cash $10.25 million worth of shares. The deal also includes an earn-out of “up to $6 million based on collection of tax credits earned up to closing.”

The transaction is expected to close in Q4 of WildBrain’s current fiscal year, and is subject to the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange and a 12-month lock-up agreement.

This acquisition more than doubles WildBrain’s pre-production team, which currently consists of approximately 80 employees based in Vancouver. Under the new ownership, House of Cool will keep its brand intact and continue to operate as usual in Toronto.

House of Cool has worked on animated series such as Kid Cosmic (Netflix) and What If…? (Marvel Studios), as well as feature films including Despicable Me (Illumination).

Founders Wes Lui and Ricardo Curtis (pictured left and right, respectively) will join WildBrain Studios’ senior management team as joint GMs of House of Cool, reporting directly to WildBrain president Josh Scherba (pictured centre).

The deal is “an investment in creative excellence,” said Scherba in a release. “Their expertise is highly complementary to our existing business, expanding and enhancing our pre-production capabilities, not only for WildBrain’s proprietary content, but also for third-party projects.”

Image courtesy of WildBrain

This story originally appeared in Kidscreen