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Verizon Communications ( VZ ) is taking a minority stake in youth-focused media and entertainment company AwesomenessTV. Verizon has agreed to acquire a 24.5% stake in AwesomenessTV in a deal that should close within 60 days, the company said in a press release Wednesday. The deal values the total company at $650 million. DreamWorks Animation ( DWA ), which acquired AwesomenessTV in 2013, will remain the company’s majority stakeholder after the deal closes. DreamWorks will have about a 51% share and privately held Hearst will own the remaining 24.5%. Besides its equity stake, Verizon plans to sign a deal with AwesomenessTV for a premium short-form mobile-video service as part of its Go90 offering. “AwesomenessTV has demonstrated an ability to zero in on programming that Gen Z and millennials want to watch,” Marni Walden, executive vice president and president of product and new business innovation at Verizon, said in a statement. Los Angeles-based AwesomenessTV makes original scripted and non-scripted entertainment aimed at young viewers. Last month, UBS reported that Verizon’s Go90 is off to a slow start . The Go90 mobile video service — ad-supported and free to users — launched in late September, targeting millennials (adults ages 18 to 34) and Gen Z (teens). Scalper1 News
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