ViacomCBS said it completed the acquisition of a 49% stake in Miramax from beIN Media Group.
beIN Media retains 51% ownership of Miramax, the award-winning studio whose business was disrupted as sexual harassment charges surfaced against founder Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein was found guilty of rape charges in February and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
ViacomCBS will spend $375 million on Miramax, with an initial payment of $150 million plus an investment of $45 million annually for five years that will be used for new film and television productions and working capital.
ViacomCBS’s Paramount Pictures also entered into an exclusive long-term agreement to distribute Miramax’s film library and a long-term first look agreement under which Paramount will develop produce, finance and distribute new film and TV projects based on Miramax’s intellectual property.
“This represents a major investment in and endorsement of our thriving Miramax business, which has grown in value under beIN Media Group’s ownership and has a fantastic future ahead with major new movies and unexploited premium dramas,” said Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of beIN Media Group.
We are thrilled to partner with ViacomCBS and Paramount to explore further opportunities around Miramax’s iconic IP, and also at Group level; while substantially increasing the scale of our entertainment business,” he said. “This deal further underlines beIN’s ambitions on the global stage – we are very proud to have established ourselves as one of the leading groups in sport, entertainment and media.”
