The Weinstein Co. is formally shopping its TV division again, tapping investment banks Moelis & Co. and ACF Investment Bank to seek investors for the busy TV wing.
Weinstein Co. had been in talks last year to sell a majority stake in its TV operation to ITV but the talks broke down over differences in valuation and the long-term commitment of Weinstein Co. chiefs Harvey and Bob Weinstein.
This time around, Weinstein Co. is looking for investors or strategic partners that can help expand the company’s business. The brothers are understood to be under some pressure from longtime investors to deliver returns for the company that launched in 2005. The TV operation is the logical vehicle for attracting new capital.
“We’d like to find a strategic partner or two that can help us grow the TV division,” Bob Weinstein told Variety. He emphasizes that the brothers intend to remain with the business. “We’re having a great time,” he said, likening the wide-open market for TV series today to the 1980s heyday era for independent film, which the Weinsteins helped build with the success of their Miramax Films banner.
Options on the table for the Weinstein Co. TV arm include the sale of a majority or minority stake. Weinstein Co. has reportedly attracted interest from Chinese investors as well as digital heavyweights looking to expand into TV production. Bob Weinstein would not elaborate other than to say: “We’re talking to everyone.”
Weinstein Co. at present has more than a dozen shows on air or order to series across Lifetime, Netflix,VH1, History, Amazon, MTV. Long-running franchises include Lifetime’s “Project Runway” and VH1’s “Mob Wives” and their various spinoffs. Weinstein Co. and Dimension Films have become more active in the scripted arena in recent years, shepherding the BBC miniseries “War and Peace” that aired on A+E Networks cablers in January, MTV’s “Scream” and Netflix’s “Marco Polo,” among other titles.
About Corporate Finance is a boutique outfit that has been a key catalyst behind the wave of consolidation among independent production entities during the past two years.
News that Weinstein Co. had tapped Moelis & Co. was first reported by the Financial Times.
