sathish456
Regular
MUMBAI: Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Big Entertainment (RBE) is in the final stages of negotiations with Hollywood’s iconic director Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks, according to a source close to the development. A deal is expected to be announced within the next one month, and will entail producing 30 movies across a four-year period.
The deal size is expected to be $1.5 billion and RBE will own close to 50% in DreamWorks once the transaction is concluded, the source added. When contacted, a Reliance-ADAG spokesperson offered “no comments” as his response. DreamWorks will invest the entire $1.5 billion in film production and it will have equal amounts of debt and equity, i.e. around $750 million each. RBE is the internet, media and entertainment arm of R-ADAG.
A Wall Street Journal story dated June 19 had said R-ADAG could invest between $500 million and $600 million by way of equity. The report also said DreamWorks would raise a debt of $500 million.
The funds infused by R-ADAG is expected to fund the proposed slate of 30 films. The move is also expected to give Steven Spielberg the financial resources to exit from media and entertainment conglomerate Viacom’s Paramount Pictures. Mr Spielberg, who had sold DreamWorks to Paramount Pictures in 2006, has been eager to regain his independence.
The transaction with ADAG will essentially consist of Mr Spielberg quitting Viacom and RBE becoming a major shareholder in DreamWorks. If successfully concluded, a deal will lend enormous credibility to RBE’s plans of becoming one of the largest entertainment players with a worldwide presence.
The contractual arrangements between Mr Spielberg and Viacom allows him to quit the Viacom platform in 2008, and to use the name DreamWorks thereafter, according to WSJ.
The deal is also expected to boost R-ADAG’s telecom business in terms of content for its value-added services (VAS) as well as its soon-to-be launched direct-to-home (DTH) venture.
The R-ADAG’s entertainment venture has been on a roll this year. Earlier this month, the group inked a joint venture with Amitabh Bachchan to co-produce a slate of films using the talent of the entire Bachchan family.
In May, the group announced a slew of projects at the Cannes film festival roping in Hollywood stars, including Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey and George Clooney, with an estimated investment of nearly $1 billion.
Recently, RBE, which runs cinemas in India through its Adlabs subsidiary, entered the US market under the brand name ‘BIG’. The company has acquired more than 200 theatres across 28 locations in North America, including New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, San Jose, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Seattle. The group has also bought a US-based theatre management company to operate the US chain and has set up a distribution company to license rights.
For Hollywood actors and producers, partnering with an Indian entertainment company would ensure South Asian audiences, apart from having a strong producer and distributor who is able to explore new markets and concepts.
In February, when George Soros invested $100 million in RBE for a 3% stake, valuing the company at $3 billion, the move took everyone by surprise. The primary reason was that most of the businesses —held under RBE — were either at the planning stage or characterised by earnings potential rather than actual earnings.
Three months on, RBE has been in talks with private equity biggies like Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), billionaire investor Carl Icahn, Japan’s SoftBank and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for selling 10% for a valuation of $5 billion.
The Economic Times
The deal size is expected to be $1.5 billion and RBE will own close to 50% in DreamWorks once the transaction is concluded, the source added. When contacted, a Reliance-ADAG spokesperson offered “no comments” as his response. DreamWorks will invest the entire $1.5 billion in film production and it will have equal amounts of debt and equity, i.e. around $750 million each. RBE is the internet, media and entertainment arm of R-ADAG.
A Wall Street Journal story dated June 19 had said R-ADAG could invest between $500 million and $600 million by way of equity. The report also said DreamWorks would raise a debt of $500 million.
The funds infused by R-ADAG is expected to fund the proposed slate of 30 films. The move is also expected to give Steven Spielberg the financial resources to exit from media and entertainment conglomerate Viacom’s Paramount Pictures. Mr Spielberg, who had sold DreamWorks to Paramount Pictures in 2006, has been eager to regain his independence.
The transaction with ADAG will essentially consist of Mr Spielberg quitting Viacom and RBE becoming a major shareholder in DreamWorks. If successfully concluded, a deal will lend enormous credibility to RBE’s plans of becoming one of the largest entertainment players with a worldwide presence.
The contractual arrangements between Mr Spielberg and Viacom allows him to quit the Viacom platform in 2008, and to use the name DreamWorks thereafter, according to WSJ.
The deal is also expected to boost R-ADAG’s telecom business in terms of content for its value-added services (VAS) as well as its soon-to-be launched direct-to-home (DTH) venture.
The R-ADAG’s entertainment venture has been on a roll this year. Earlier this month, the group inked a joint venture with Amitabh Bachchan to co-produce a slate of films using the talent of the entire Bachchan family.
In May, the group announced a slew of projects at the Cannes film festival roping in Hollywood stars, including Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey and George Clooney, with an estimated investment of nearly $1 billion.
Recently, RBE, which runs cinemas in India through its Adlabs subsidiary, entered the US market under the brand name ‘BIG’. The company has acquired more than 200 theatres across 28 locations in North America, including New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, San Jose, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Seattle. The group has also bought a US-based theatre management company to operate the US chain and has set up a distribution company to license rights.
For Hollywood actors and producers, partnering with an Indian entertainment company would ensure South Asian audiences, apart from having a strong producer and distributor who is able to explore new markets and concepts.
In February, when George Soros invested $100 million in RBE for a 3% stake, valuing the company at $3 billion, the move took everyone by surprise. The primary reason was that most of the businesses —held under RBE — were either at the planning stage or characterised by earnings potential rather than actual earnings.
Three months on, RBE has been in talks with private equity biggies like Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), billionaire investor Carl Icahn, Japan’s SoftBank and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for selling 10% for a valuation of $5 billion.
The Economic Times
What a stupidity. Why people will pay you just to re-rent already a rented space? (I know its YOU - a company - which is selling/renting hoarding space but instead buying from a company why not others will buy it from a direct municipal corporation?) And how would those small players in a city afford to pay BIG PRICES for those hoardings they are already paying small amount in past? 
