Fosun Group (復星集團), backed by billionaire Guo Guangchang (郭廣昌), has explored options for its stake in Hollywood production house Studio 8 Inc including a sale, people familiar with the matter said.
The insurance-to-pharmaceutical conglomerate has approached investors to discuss possibly disposing its stake as well as financing for films Studio 8 is producing, said the people, who asked not to be identified because details are private.
Fosun values the studio, which it bought about three years ago, at as much as US$1 billion, one of the people said.
Fosun is not in formal talks with the potential suitors and might decide to retain its holding, the people said.
The group has 80 percent equity interest in Studio 8’s Class A investors, which, in turn, own 60 percent of the company, a filing showed.
A representative for Studio 8 declined to comment.
Fosun is “very supportive and continues to be committed to Studio 8 as a long-term strategic shareholder,” the company said.
Shanghai-based Fosun, which owns stakes in Club Med and Cirque du Soleil, is among China’s most acquisitive firms.
It is also among the companies that have come under scrutiny amid a crackdown on outbound deals that the Chinese government deems “irrational.”
This month, Fosun entered exclusive talks to acquire Italian lingerie maker La Perla and agreed to buy part of China’s Tsingtao Brewery Co (青島啤酒).
Studio 8’s founder Jeff Robinov is a former executive at Warner Bros Pictures, where he helped oversee films including The Dark Knight trilogy, The Hangover franchise and Inception.
The Culver City, California-based company also released Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, directed by Taiwanese-American director Ang Lee (李安). The movie, based on a novel about a US soldier returning from Iraq and shot with advanced technology, performed poorly at the global box office.
The production house, established in 2014, has US$1 billion of financing and was funded in partnership with Fosun and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc, its Web site showed.
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