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Home , Dana Brunetti, Relativity Media, Ryan Kavanaugh

3 Possible Buyers Now That the Studio Is For Sale Again ‘s baby could be the next studio to go Chinese

Matt Pressberg | October 3, 2016

After stumbling out of its re- emergence from bankruptcy with two box-office duds, Ryan Kavanaugh is putting his Rela- tivity Media up for sale.

The studio has bled tens of mil- lions of dollars over the last couple years, according to pub- licly available bankruptcy docu- ments. Its latest , “Masterminds,” sputtered to just $6.6 million across 2,170 theaters during its opening weekend. But given the fact that there are only so many full- Getty Images fledged distributors in Holly- than 110 countries, and Greif chase of Dick wood, plenty of people will line said its pipeline of movies, or Clark Productions. Wanda also up to take a look. “merchandise,” in his words, teamed up with to invest still has value. And as Relativity and market some of the studio’s “Lots of folks that were circling prepares to go on the auction in China. the wagons at Paramount [will block once again, three names be interested],” Lloyd Greif, the jump out as potential buyers. Wanda’s founder — and Chi- CEO of boutique investment na’s richest man — Wang bank Greif & Co., told The- Dalian Wanda Group Jianlin has made no secret of his Wrap. “But this is clearly what China’s would-be entertainment ambitions to own a major Hol- you would call a ‘booby prize.'” juggernaut has splashed out lywood studio, and Wanda was plenty of cash in 2016, scooping the leading candidate to acquire On the plus side, Relativity has up for 49 percent of Paramount Pic- fairly lucrative output deals that $3.5 billion in January and tures before Shari Redstone won distribute its content in more working on a $1 billion pur- a power struggle with former Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, bargain price, Greif said, now onrumors that Disney might be which put an end to those talks. that “the bloom is off the rose.” interested. Relativity isn’t a major player like Paramount, but neither was Other than those three, Greif Legendary. However, while Relativity and Netflix have tossed out as a poten- Legendary films such as some contentious history, as the tial — if less likely — buyer, “Jurassic World” and studio won a battle over the given the fact that it is ex- “Warcraft” were huge hits in streaming provider which want- pected to be more sensitive on China, Relativity’s fare hasn’t ed to put its two latest films, price than Wanda or Alibaba. made as much of an impact on “Masterminds” and “The Disap- MGM had been bandied about the world’s second-largest — pointments Room,” on its plat- when Relativity first entered and fastest-growing — box of- form after Relativity pushed bankruptcy, but after its “Ben- fice. back their release dates. Relativ- Hur” box office bomb — the ity has a lucrative exclusive out- studio reduced its revenue fore- Alibaba put deal with Netflix that guar- cast by $50 million after the The E-commerce giant’s Aliba- antees the studio millions in mega-budget epic failed to con- ba Pictures opened a Southern revenue. The deal has proven to nect with audiences — any ac- office last year and be favorable to Relativity, and quisition seems far-fetched, invested in two of Paramount’s Netflix sought to get out of it Greif said. Greif also doesn’t summer blockbusters: “Teenage when Relativity was going see an independent billionaire Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of through the bankruptcy process. with Hollywood dreams, such The Shadows” and “Star Trek as supermarket magnate Ron Beyond.” Alibaba also partici- , ‘s Burkle or Trump finance chair- pated in the financing of Para- right hand man and the producer man taking a mount’s “Mission Impossible: of “House of Cards,” the Netflix shot at Relativity. Rogue Nation” in 2015. series Spacey stars on, became president of Relativity earlier To him, the obvious place to With Wanda’s Legendary move this year — and called Netflix look for Relativity’s next owner and Chinese tech and internet “overvalued” during a CNBC is east. conglomerate Tencent making a interview. strategic investment in STX in “I think game, set and match, August, Alibaba’s lack of a While acquiring Relativity out- it’s going to be a Chinese buy- Hollywood studio or production right would take care of the out- er,” he said. company under its wing has be- put deal, Netflix appears likelier come somewhat conspicuous. to be the target of an acquisition Alibaba hasn’t been as aggres- rather than the acquirer. Apple sive as Wanda in terms of writ- and have been men- ing big checks for entertain- tioned as possible landing spots ment assets, but Relativity for Netflix, and Netflix shares should go for much more of a hit a four-month high Monday