Qatar's media and entertainment company BeIn Media to buy film studio Miramax
03 Mar 2016
Qatar's media and entertainment company BeIn Media Group yesterday struck a deal to buy US independent film and television studio Miramax, the producer behind cult movies such as Pulp Fiction.
BeIn is acquiring Miramax from State-owned Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and investment firm, Colony Capital.
Doha-based BeIn did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but QIA and Colony Capital had acquired Miramax in 2010 from Walt Disney for $660 million.
BeIn said that Miramax will continue operating as an independent film and TV studio.
Miramax has over 700 titles in its library and owns the rights to hundreds of Hollywood films including Bridget Jones' Diary and The English Patient.
Founded in 1979 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, Miramax has over 700 titles in its library, including Best Picture Oscar winners The English Patient, Chicago, Shakespeare in Love and No Country for Old Men.
Weinsteins sold the company to the Walt Disney Co in 1993 for a meager for $60 million.
QIA and Colony had been looking to sell the company for at least a year and were seeking at least $1 billion, but buyers were not willing to pay a premium since Miramax had no new content created by them.
''We are extremely excited to have achieved this key milestone within our strategy,'' said Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman and CEO of BeIn.
''Miramax is a successful film and television company, providing a strong and recognizable brand, a unique library and industry expertise that complement beIN's plans to grow across the entertainment industry and develop new content production,'' he added.
Steve Schoch, CEO of Miramax, said, ''This is an exciting time in the evolution of our company, and we are thrilled to be a part of BeIn Media group. Miramax's growing 2016 slate is a testament to the incredible work of the team thus far to build on the proud Miramax legacy. In concert with BeIn leadership, we look forward to further expanding our film and television output, broadening our distribution capabilities and fortifying our position as the premiere independent studio brand.''
BeIn was founded in 2014 as part of a spin-off from Al Jazeera Media Network. Its holdings include sports networks and movie channels.
It broadcasts 34 channels across 5 continents within 33 countries and in 6 different languages.
