Viacom looks for growth through digital pets

Word hit the street that Viacom is buying privately held Neopets in a deal valued at $160MM. I've talked before about Neopets and how solid of a model they have, supported with a great managment team. Having worked with both MTV and Neopets, they have two very different styles of business. It will certainly be interesting to watch this unfold and the integration take place. I think it's the right move as long as the price tag makes sense financially. Neopets brings an extremely strong brand to the table and a history of overdelivering results to their corproate partners. And Viacom will be able to integrate a host of their businesses very naturally into Neopets.

One thing of interest...Disney has a pretty big presence on Neopets with their movie theatre integration. I can't see Viacom wanting that valuable piece of property to stay in the hands of Disney.