Another Chinese company has snapped up a Hollywood movie producer just a week after reports came out of discussions between the Recon Group and Millennium Films.
The Financial Times reported that Recon Group would purchase a 51 percent stake in Millennium Films for $100 million. Millennium Films produced “The Expendables” franchise and “Rambo” movies of Sylvester Stallone.
Chinese Buying Spree
Recon Group, controlled by Tony Xia, adds to the growing list of Chinese conglomerates buying entertainment assets overseas from movie studios to cinema chains. The buying spree, however, has caught the attention of U.S. legislators who sought an investigation over how the move would influence content in the production and distribution of films.
China too has entered the fray with regulators holding the Dalian Wanda Group-Dick Clark deal to stem capital flight. Besides its planned purchase of Dick Clark for $1 billion, Dalian acquired for $3.5 billion in 2016 Legendary Entertainment and bought AMC cinema houses in 2012.
300-Film Library
Recon Holding, a subsidiary of the Recon Group, would be the one to buy out the 51 percent stake in Millennium Films, established in 1996 by Avi Lerner and Trevor Short. The deal, expected to close in Q2 2017, includes about 300 movies of Millennium Films such as “Conan the Barbarian” and an upcoming movie, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard.”
Once the deal has been completed, Xia would become chairman of Millennium Films, Lerner would be chief executive and Short chief operating officer. Recon could buy the 49 percent owned by Lerner and Short in the future.
Xia, based in Yixing near Shanghai, acquired in 2016 Aston Villa the struggling English soccer club to turn it around, according to Associated Press. Other companies of Xia include Lotus Health Group, the second-largest maker in the world of monosodium glutamate, an additive.