Rainbow (fully known as Rainbow S.r.l. or Rainbow S.p.A.) is an Italian television studio co-owned by Iginio Sraffi and ViacomCBS International Media Networks. ViacomCBS owns 30% of the company while Straffi owns the rest. Rainbow is best known for producing the Winx Club cartoon, which was co-developed with Viacom's Nickelodeon starting in 2011.
In February 2011, Viacom purchased 30% of the company for $83 million U.S. dollars (62 million euros). Nickelodeon's international president, Pierluigi Gazzolo, is a member of Rainbow's board of directors.
In 2015, Rainbow purchased fellow animation studio Bardel Entertainment.[1] In 2017, Rainbow acquired a majority stake in Gruppo Iven S.p.A., which owns the production company Colorado Film.[2]
In 2018, Straffi and Viacom listed the company on the Italian stock exchange.[3] The listing followed years of consideration regarding which country's stock market to enter (the United States or Italy).[4] According to Straffi, this presented "a real dilemma" as Viacom was already listed on an American stock exchange,[4] but Rainbow performed best in European countries.[4] Straffi and Viacom withdrew Rainbow from the stock market in May 2018, citing a lack of suitable market conditions.[5]
After almost 12 years of co-ownership, Paramount sold its stake back to Straffi in January 2023. While Nickelodeon will continue to be a broadcast partner for the studio, the purchase allows Straffi full control of Rainbow's new projects.[6] The buyout does not affect the seasons of Winx Club that Nickelodeon produced, as the copyright is still registered to Paramount.[7]
References[]
- ↑ "Rainbow buys Canadian animation studio Bardel" (5 October 2015).
- ↑ Andrea, Montanari (21 August 2017). "Rainbow-Viacom compra la Colorado".
- ↑ "Winx take to the stock exchange" (12 April 2018). “Rome: The shares will be put on sale by Straffi and Viacom Holdings Italia.”
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Rainbow ripensa alla Borsa" (it) (3 November 2015).
- ↑ "The Winx Withdraw from the Stock Market" (22 May 2018). “The Rainbow studio based in Loreto, Marche, 30% of which belongs to Viacom, decided to go public... However, investors have not responded with the awaited enthusiasm”
- ↑ Bianchi, Nicole (24 January 2023). "Good Morning, Cinecittà!" (Italian).
- ↑ "Copyright Catalog: Winx Club - Eps. 726". Library of Congress.
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