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Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine to Be Sold to Media Company Backed by Blackstone - The Wall Street Journal
Aug 02, 2021 1 min, 42 secs
media business, Hello Sunshine, is selling itself to a firm backed by private-equity giant Blackstone Group Inc., the companies said, part of a plan to build an independent entertainment company for Hollywood’s streaming era.

People familiar with the matter said it values Ms.

Hello Sunshine will be its first acquisition.

Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine Chief Executive Sarah Harden will join the board of the new company and will continue to operate Hello Sunshine.

and Emerson Collective, some of the people familiar with the matter said.

Witherspoon and some Hello Sunshine executives and investors will roll over the remaining equity into ownership stakes in the new company Blackstone is forming.

Witherspoon, the actress and entrepreneur who founded Hello Sunshine in 2016, said in an interview that the deal is a major endorsement of her bet that Hollywood needs more stories told by and for women.

recently agreed to purchase the studio MGM Holdings for $8.45 billion including debt, and SpringHill Co., the firm founded by LeBron James, is exploring a sale seeking a valuation of $750 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Blackstone-backed company is separate from a special-purpose acquisition company Mr.

Mayer said that the new company, like Hello Sunshine, will be free to license programs to any studio or network, giving it an edge over major studios that must feed their own streaming services.

The value that the new Blackstone-backed company will get from Hello Sunshine’s past titles will vary.

For example, Hello Sunshine co-owns titles such as “Little Fires Everywhere,” and retains the right to sell them to other distributors after initial licenses expire, some people familiar with the deal said.

For some other shows, such as “Big Little Lies” and “The Morning Show,” Hello Sunshine serves as a producer, but doesn’t retain co-ownership.

Witherspoon’s company

Hello Sunshine, which will be profitable this year, also has a kids and animation division with a coming slate that includes four projects with four different streaming services, according to people familiar with the matter

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