Deal set for Taiwan TV network
Dan Mintz, chief executive of the Los Angelesbased media company DMG Entertainment, has signed a deal to acquire Taiwan’s top television network.
Mintz told The Times that he recently reached an agreement to buy EBC from the private equity firm Carlyle Group for $600 million.
A spokesman for Carlyle confirmed the deal, but declined to comment on the transaction, which is subject to approval by Taiwan’s broadcast regulators.
EBC is the largest privately owned Mandarin-language TV network with 20 channels, including eight in Taiwan that show a mix of news, sports, movies, dramas and children’s programs. EBC also is carried on cable and satellite services in North America and Europe, and has a subsidiary channel in South America. The network is widely viewed across Asia, including Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
Acquiring EBC would provide DMG with a new distribution outlet for its content and enable it to expand throughout Asia and around the world, Mintz said.
DMG, which is affiliated with a publicly traded company in China, produces and distributes movies, TV shows, comic books and games. It also offers advertising and communications services.
“EBC is an amazing television network and I’ve had my eye on it for a while,” Mintz said. “It’s the largest privately owned Mandarinspeaking television network in the world. It’s a great platform for us.”
The network, for example, could distribute television shows adapted from DMG’s comic book properties, he said. The company owns a stake in Valiant Entertainment, the comic book publisher behind such characters as “Shadowman” and “Bloodshot.”
The transaction, however, must still get clearance from Taiwan’s Economic Affairs Ministry. The ministry’s Investment Commission has not yet received an application for such a buyout, a spokeswoman said. The commission must approve any such sale and has been picky in the past about foreign investment in major Taiwanese companies.
Mintz said an application would be filed in the next two weeks. He said he has had preliminary meetings with regulators and wasn’t concerned about any potential hurdles because of his ties to mainland China, which has had a history of tensions with Taiwan since the two split in 1949.
“If a Chinese person and a Chinese company buys it, that’s not going to work,” he said. “I’m not Chinese ... so I think that’s going to work.”
DMG has produced a number of hit Chinese films and some of the country’s most popular TV shows. Mintz is known for his strong connections in China and has helped to produce and distribute high-profile Hollywood movies in the country, including Disney’s “Iron Man 3” and “Looper.”
The company also is an investor in the upcoming remake of “Point Break” from Warner Bros. and Alcon Entertainment.