Chernin Group receives $100-million investment from Qatar Holding
Peter Chernin’s media company has received an investment of approximately $100 million from Qatar Holding, considerably expanding its ability to make strategic acquisitions.
“The Chernin Group will use this capital to expand and diversify the company’s media and entertainment operations in the U.S. and across Asia,” the company said in a statement Thursday.
Terms of the deal were not officially disclosed, but a person familiar with the agreement put the investment in the $100-million range.
The contribution comes seven months after Chernin Group received a nearly $200 million investment from private equity firm Providence Equity Partners. Chernin now has raised a total of nearly $300 million, this person said.
The former long-time president of Rupert Murdoch’s media giant News Corp. used his lucrative 2009 exit deal to launch his entertainment boutique, with an eye toward foreign investments, including Asia.
Chernin also has had preliminary discussions with private-equity firm Apollo Global Management to merge his Santa Monica based company, Chernin Entertainment, with two prominent reality television production firms, Endemol and Core Media Group, according to people familiar with the discussions. Apollo owns Core and is the largest debt holder in Endemol.
Chernin Entertainment, the movie and TV production arm, co-released last year’s box-office smash “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and co-produces the hit Fox sitcom “New Girl.”
It is one of the first media investments from Qatar Holding, which has stakes in Barclays Bank, Harrods of London and Volkswagen. The Qatar government’s sovereign wealth fund led an investment group that acquired Miramax Films from Disney in 2010.
The Chernin Group, which holds a majority stake in Hong Kong-based CA Media, has made investments in the U.S. in such technology start-ups as Pandora, Fullscreen, Tumblr, Flipboard and Scopely.
“Peter Chernin is building TCG into a world-class media company,” Ahmad Al-Sayed, managing director and chief executive officer of Qatar Holding, said in a statement. “We look forward to partnering with TCG and Providence, working closely with them, supporting the ongoing development of their current portfolio of investments as well as the company’s growth through future endeavors.”
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