Parasite' Backer CJ Entertainment Taking Stake in Blockbuster Producer Skydance
February 11 2020 - 06:08PM
Dow Jones News
By R.T. Watson
Fresh off winning a history-making Oscar for its film
"Parasite," South Korean production company CJ Entertainment is
part of a group investing in Skydance Media, the Hollywood company
behind action-heavy blockbusters like "Terminator."
CJ Group, parent of the production company behind "Parasite" --
which at Sunday's Academy Awards became the first foreign-language
film to win best picture -- and private-equity firm RedBird Capital
Partners are investing $275 million in Skydance, the company
responsible for the Mission Impossible and Terminator franchises.
The investment values Skydance at $2.3 billion and represents an
aggressive move into Hollywood for CJ.
While led by RedBird, the group of investors includes capital
not only from CJ but also Tencent Holdings Ltd. and the family of
Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison, whose father is Oracle
Corp. founder Larry Ellison. The group is injecting $275 million
into Skydance for a roughly 10% stake, bringing the Hollywood
company's valuation to an estimated $2.3 billion, Skydance said in
a statement Tuesday.
As leader of the round, RedBird put up most of the newly
invested capital, according to people familiar with the matter.
"Parasite," which won four Academy Awards, has made $165.4
million world-wide, according to Box Office Mojo.
The new investment isn't CJ's first direct foray into Hollywood.
In 1995, the company took an 11% stake in DreamWorks SKG with an
investment of $300 million. The company was later acquired by
Universal Pictures, which is now part of Comcast Corp.
Skydance's movie strategy has focused primarily on helping to
finance projects developed by partner studio Paramount Pictures,
owned by Viacom Inc. Recent projects produced by the partners have
had lackluster results, including "Terminator: Dark Fate" and
"Gemini Man," which both performed poorly at the box office.
Skydance also produced "Six Underground," a critically panned film
that was acquired by Netflix Inc.
Founded in 2014 by Gerry Cardinale, a former Goldman Sachs Group
Inc. partner, New York-based RedBird counts mostly wealthy families
and entrepreneurs among its investors. It tends to have a longer
time horizon for its investments than the typical five-year period
favored by buyout funds.
--Miriam Gottfried contributed to this article.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 11, 2020 17:53 ET (22:53 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Tencent (PK) (USOTC:TCEHY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
Tencent (PK) (USOTC:TCEHY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024