In the first major production company acquisition for Fox Entertainment since the network split with longtime studio partner 20th Century Fox TV after the Disney-Fox deal closed, the newly independent company has acquired Bento Box Entertainment, the animation house behind Fox’s Emmy-winning series Bob’s Burgers and the upcoming Duncanville and The Great North.

The buy comes amid a ramp-up in animation programming at Fox, which ordered three new animated series in less than a year with Duncanville, The Great North and Bless the Harts, along with several presentations.

After the acquisition, Bento Box will operate as a stand-alone entity under the Fox Entertainment banner and produce content for all platforms. Its leadership team will remain in place, including co-founders Scott Greenberg (CEO) and Joel Kuwahara (President of Production), and senior executives Brett Coker (COO), Ben Jones (Creative Director), Craig Hartin (GM of Bento Box Atlanta), Janelle Momary (Supervising Producer) and Andi Raab (Supervising Producer).

“As we grow Fox for the next generation, it only makes sense we would expand our animation capabilities by bringing on board the best in the business: Bento Box.,” Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier said. “The Bento-Fox combination brings Fox front-door access to the next wave of the genre’s creative leaders, while still maintaining Bento Box’s focus on all that makes them a terrific partner for outside producers.”

The Bento Box acquisition is part of Fox Entertainment’s strategy to build in-house capabilities after losing 20th TV. In February, the company launched SideCar, a content development accelerator headed by Gail Berman, to incubate scripted and unscripted programming for both Fox and third-party platforms. In May, Fox Entertainment announced it is ramping up its unscripted programming capabilities by formally bringing unscripted production in-house with the new unit Fox Alternative Entertainment, including Season Two of The Masked Singer. Sutikki, and its related assets, are not part of the acquisition.