An upstart Hollywood company, STX Entertainment, said on Thursday that it had secured financing from two Chinese conglomerates, Tencent Holdings and PCCW, to further its ambitions in television, music and digital media.
STX also said that existing investors, including China’s Hony Capital and TPG Growth, had funneled additional money into the company, which has so far been known for midbudget movies like the drama “Free State of Jones,” a June bomb, and “Bad Moms,” a July comedy hit.
“All of these investments, combined with an increase to our credit facility, led by J.P. Morgan and Bank of America, have provided us with access to almost $700 million in new capital,” Robert Simonds, the STX chief executive, said in a companywide email. The equity stakes taken by Tencent and PCCW value the entertainment company at $1.5 billion, according to a person briefed on the deal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private financial information.
The decision by Tencent to become an owner in STX is particularly notable. Hollywood companies of all kinds have been chasing the Chinese internet giant as a partner and investor, but Tencent, the owner of WeChat, China’s most popular messaging app, has played relatively hard to get.
Mr. Simonds and his lieutenants — many of them former senior executives at traditional Hollywood studios — have eye-popping aspirations. They want to bridge the gap between the American and Chinese entertainment industries while serving as a one-stop shop for stars, directors, producers and brands eager to create and distribute content across multiple media.
“We’ve broken down the traditional silos of the entertainment business,” Mr. Simonds said in a statement. “Whether it’s through television, apps, video games, social media, film or any other medium, we’ve created the only company with the infrastructure, reach and industry expertise to incubate, generate and distribute content for all platforms, on a global scale.”
As part of the deals announced on Thursday, Mr. Simonds said that PCCW, which has media operations across Southeast Asia and India, and Tencent had agreed to distribute STX-produced content.
The pressure is now on Mr. Simonds and his team to deliver popular shows, films and internet-related experiences — something that has bedeviled many well-funded Hollywood start-ups in the past. Future STX movies include “The Space Between Us,” a science-fiction romance, and “The Edge of Seventeen,” a high school-centered comedic drama.
STX said it had deals in place to create 22 television shows for networks in the United States and Asia.
New York Times
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