Hong Kong PE buys into US-HK entertainment merger

According to a statement, Co-High will take a substantial equity position in SK Global for an undisclosed sum via its China Cultural & Entertainment Fund (CCEF). The investment will support an expansion of the company’s production, distribution and financing apparatus throughout Asia.

SK Global is a newly formed entity combining Hollywood independent film finance and production company Sidney Kimmel Entertainment with Ivanhoe Pictures, a Hong Kong company that specializes distributing film and television content in the local languages of various international markets.

It follows a number of collaborations between the two companies in North America and Asia. Future marketing under the SK Group brand is expected to include a focus on penetrating Europe and Latin America. The company’s enlarged content library consists of more than 75 feature films.

“We believe the new venture will have a prosperous future in China, and our strategic alliance is valuable to the increasingly interconnected China and US film markets,” Yang Liu, chairwoman of CCEF, said.

China is expected to surpass North America this year as the world’s largest film market despite investment headwinds related to strict quotas on foreign film imports. Private equity activity in this space has included a number of partnerships between foreign film industry players looking to enter the Chinese market and domestic GPs such as Hony Capital and CMC Capital Partners. 

Last year, Co-High launched a $100 million film fund focused on US-China co-productions alongside China Film, the country's largest movie distributor, and US-based Pegasus Media.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Greater China
• Consumer
• Media
• Expansion
• Hong Kong (China)
• China
• USA
• M&A