Blue Ant Media is set to acquire Thunderbird Entertainment in a bid to create Canada’s next big global studio. 

In a surprise announcement this morning, Blue Ant Media shared that it has reached a definitive stock-and-cash agreement to buy Thunderbird for US$63 million. The proposed acquisition is set to close in Q1, pending customary Toronto Stock Exchange, competition bureau and shareholder approvals. 

The aim for both companies is to create a stronger business spanning production, distribution and IP monetization, according to Blue Ant’s CEO Michael MacMillan. The companies expect to see operating cost savings of roughly US$5 million in the first 12 months after the deal goes through. 

There are a lot of details still up in the air, including what exactly Thunderbird will look like as part of Blue Ant, and whether layoffs are expected. But the companies have already made it clear that if the purchase happens, kids and animation will be a key part of the new business. 

When the transaction closes in Q1, Thunderbird CEO Jennifer Twiner McCarron will oversee a combined kids, young adult and animation business under Blue Ant Studios. 

This will be quite the remit, since this acquisition is set to create a Canadian kids entertainment powerhouse. The companies have complementary kids portfolios, and there’s not much overlap in their family libraries. Blue Ant has plenty of live-action programming for kids, teens and families, such as Old Enough! (TVO) and All-Round Champion (BYUtv and TVO), which it inherited by buying marblemedia. 

Meanwhile, Thunderbird’s well-known animation studio Atomic Cartoons has made its own series, like Mermicorno: Starfall (pictured) and The Last Kids on Earth, and done service work on animated kids shows for major streamers such as Netflix (My Little Pony: Make Your Mark) and Disney+ (Spidey and His Amazing Friends, one of the biggest hits in preschool TV). 

“This transaction brings Thunderbird into a larger, more diversified media group with stronger commissioning opportunities, global distribution and greater emphasis on IP ownership and monetization,” said Twiner McCarron in a release. 

Blue Ant’s CEO Michael MacMillan and Thunderbird CEO Jennifer Twiner McCarron.

According to the same release, some Thunderbird assets that attracted Blue Ant include the company’s research into non-generative AI to speed up animation; its track record for handling global brands; and its ability to expand production capacity across animation, kids, young adult and unscripted content. 

Both companies released their latest financial earnings reports today—Q1 2026 for Thunderbird and Q4/full year 2025 for Blue Ant. The results tell a little bit of the story about why they’re making this deal. 

Blue Ant’s full-year revenue was up slightly to US$144 million from US$139 million the year before. In Q4, there was a similar small increase from US$38.4 million to US$43.1 million. 

Thunderbird, meanwhile, had a rougher time in Q1. Its revenue was down 19% to US$26.1 million from the same period a year before. This was due to productions being delayed until later in fiscal 2026. The company also had a net loss of roughly US$355,000, compared with a net income of US$1.1 million the year before, because there were no IP projects delivered in its latest quarter. Adjusted EBITDA dropped by almost two-thirds (US$996,000, down from US$2.9 million) as a result. 

Thunderbird Kids & Family and Atomic had 18 projects in production in Q1, including season four of Spidey for Disney Junior and Dr. Seuss’s Red Fish, Blue Fish for Netflix.