Chinese $$ retreat KO’s Dick Clark deal
A Chinese conglomerate’s decision to kill its $1 billion deal to buy Dick Clark Productions left many in Hollywood wondering if an era of what a studio veteran called “dumb money” had ended.
Eldridge Industries acknowledged the derailing of its deal to sell DCP to China’s Dalian Wanda Group by filing for a termination fee on Friday.
The fee was part of the agreement between Eldridge and Wanda announced with much fanfare in November.
China’s enthusiasm for Hollywood properties spilled into January, when Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin announced his company would spend up to $10 billion on overseas entertainment assets this year.
Given Wanda’s purchase of “Batman” coproducer Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion and Carmike Cinemas for $1.1 billion in 2016, few expected the spending spree to stop
But a move by Beijing to limit outflows of capital is killing or jeopardizing some recently announced deals.
For example, MGM, the studio behind James Bond flicks, was in talks to be sold to Chinese investors, sources said. Those talks ended last week.
A $1 billion slate deal that calls for two Chinese companies to finance at least 25 percent of every film by Paramount Pictures over the next three years is said to be in trouble, Variety reported on Friday.
China’s tightening the spigot already has some Hollywood veterans worried about obtaining outlandish premiums on asset sales.
“The Chinese strategy is to invest and then learn,” a source said.