Kutcher-backed Chicken Soup to acquire SVOD player

CSSE’s Project Dad

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, a ‘positive content’ company backed by Ashton Kutcher’s A Plus, has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Pivotshare, a global subscription-based video-on-demand service.

Pivotshare offers channels online across a variety of genres from music to sports, religion and lifestyle. It currently holds near 28,000 hours of programming.

The network generates approximately $2.5 million in annual revenue and has 25,000 paid subscribers, according to the company. It charges $9 a month.

CSSE used perpetual preferred stock to complete the acquisition. It has paid US$4.35 million in a cash-and-stock deal. It will be the company’s first move into SVOD.

“This accretive acquisition of Pivotshare launches us into the subscription VOD space, significantly accelerating our business plan,” said William J. Rouhana, Jr., chairman and chief execuhomepage-featured-2tive officer. “This multi-channel online network comes with pre-existing content, much of which fits with the Chicken Soup for the Soul brand.”

Scott W. Seaton, vice chairman of CSSE, said: “Pivotshare is expected to generate approximately $1 million per year in cost savings for CSS Entertainment, which is a 23% return on our investment annually.”

Recently, CSSE picked up a personal finance title produced by Ashton Kutcher.