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Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment is exploring strategic options including a possible sale of all or part of the company, according to people familiar with the situation, following a wave of similar deals involving independent production firms.
The company, whose credits include Oscar-winning films such as “12 Years a Slave” and “Moonlight,” has retained boutique investment bank
& Co. to explore a deal, the people said. There is no guarantee that the discussions will result in a transaction.
Plan B is the latest in a string of production companies looking to capitalize on the robust appetite for fresh content in Hollywood, sparked partly by a boom in streaming services over the past few years. There has been a flurry of deals, especially involving production companies affiliated with big stars.
Candle Media, the private equity-backed entertainment company run by former
Walt Disney Co.
executives
Kevin Mayer
and
Tom Staggs,
last year said it was acquiring actress
Reese Witherspoon’s
Hello Sunshine, the production company behind the “The Morning Show” on Apple TV+. That deal was valued at around $900 million.
Brad Pitt arriving at the premiere of “Bullet Train” at the Regency Village theatre in Westwood, California.
Photo:
michael tran/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Candle Media’s other transactions include purchasing a minority stake in Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s entertainment company, Westbrook.
RedBird Capital Partners, an investment firm specializing in sports media, last year led a consortium that took a minority stake in NBA superstar LeBron James’s entertainment firm, SpringHill Co. In July, veteran entertainment executive Peter Chernin launched North Road, a new entertainment company, with the goal of acquiring more content companies.
The streaming industry’s momentum has slowed somewhat this year, especially in the mature U.S. market, with No. 1 player
Netflix Inc.
posting subscriber losses in the past two quarters. At the same time, mergers and economic pressures are propelling cost-cutting efforts at several big entertainment companies. Though spending on content is expected to remain robust, the various headwinds in Hollywood could dampen valuations for production companies.
Plan B, which is run by Mr. Pitt and film producers Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, has been involved in a number of critically acclaimed movies. Some of its recent projects include “Women Talking,” a religious drama scheduled for theatrical release later this year, and the Marilyn Monroe biopic “Blonde” on Netflix.
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Appeared in the October 13, 2022, print edition as ‘Brad Pitt’s Company Weighs Sale.’
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