A24, Imagine Entertainment, and Reese Witherspoon's company Hello Sunshine have all been considering their options, as well. Several other media companies have explored this option, some of which are in the process of being finalized. Harden said.Legendary Entertainment is exploring the possibility of a sale or a merger. “I think you’re going to see more from us coming in sort of engagement, events, experiences and commerce that are targeted to a female consumer - and a lot centered around the lifestyle of books and reading,” Ms. Harden, the chief executive, said in an interview that books could be a big part of a move into commerce.
Hello Sunshine is also the home of Reese’s Book Club, which has more than two million followers and a corresponding app. “And so we’ve been searching for a couple of years, really, how to capitalize on that for our investors.” “There’s a seemingly endless number of streaming services, all in need of content - and so that megatrend we believe is long-dated and really significant,” said Joe Baratta, the global head of private equity at Blackstone. Longer term, Blackstone views it as a potential stand-alone public company or acquisition target for an entertainment giant. Mayer plan to build an independent media company meant to take advantage of the ravenous appetite for content when Netflix, Apple, Disney and Amazon are willing to pay big money for the next streaming hit. With Hello Sunshine as a cornerstone, Blackstone, Mr. Staggs in December, and they have been looking for acquisitions since then. Harden will have equity in the new company, which does not yet have a name, and will continue to run Hello Sunshine.īlackstone struck an agreement to work with Mr. Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine’s chief executive, Sarah Harden, will sit on the board of the Blackstone-backed company, which will be led by two former high-level Walt Disney Company executives, Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. Witherspoon is moving beyond the roles that made her famous - in films like “Legally Blonde,” “Wild,” “Walk the Line” and “Election” - and into the ranks of Hollywood’s power brokers. With the nearly $1 billion agreement, Ms. The company gained momentum on the strength of two of its Emmy-winning series, “The Morning Show” for AppleTV+ and “Big Little Lies” for HBO. Witherspoon started Hello Sunshine in 2016 with the idea of creating movies and shows centered on women.
Three people with knowledge of the agreement, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe the negotiations, said the deal valued Hello Sunshine at roughly $900 million. Reese Witherspoon, the Oscar-winning actor who became a force in Hollywood as a producer and an entrepreneur, reached an agreement on Monday to sell her entertainment studio, Hello Sunshine, to a newly created company backed by the investment firm Blackstone Group.
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