US-based film and television studio STX Entertainment received an undisclosed amount of funding from investors including internet company Tencent and IT, telecom and media group PCCW on Thursday.
The round also included Hony Capital, the private equity firm sponsored by conglomerate Legend Holdings, as well as food producer William Wrigley Jr, TPG Growth, East West Bank CEO Dominic Ng and business interests of Gigi Pritzker, Michael Pucker and their immediate family.
Founded in 2014 with investment by Hony and TPG, STX produces motion pictures and television, and is best known for the former, having released low-to-mid budget films such as The Gift, Secret in Their Eyes and Hardcore Henry.
STX will use the new funding to expand its TV production and move into new areas of media like music, app-based entertainment and immersive virtual reality content.
The company aims to eventually be able to develop and distribute entertainment across several platforms simultaneously, which it hopes will make it a beacon for A-list figures.
Although STX has not revealed the amount invested, a person close to the company told the Los Angeles Times it had about $700m in capital to fund its expansion plans. The round valued STX at $1.5bn, a person with knowledge of the matter told DealStreetAsia.
Robert Simonds, chairman and CEO of STX Entertainment, said: “We conceived STX for the new media landscape to meet the changing needs of talent, industry partners and audiences. We have broken down the traditional silos of the entertainment business to become the best home for stars and creators to tell their stories anywhere and through any format.
“Whether it is through television, apps, video games, social media, film or any other medium, we have created the only company with the infrastructure, reach and industry expertise to incubate, generate and distribute content for all platforms, on a global scale.”
STX has formed content distribution agreements with Hong Kong-headquartered PCCW and China-based Tencent in conjunction with their investments, and will provide PCCW with content for its TV and digital channels.
The studio plans to release 12 films per year and has agreed deals for 22 shows to be broadcast in the US and Asia. It has also opened a globally-focused subsidiary in London called STX International.
Kirkland & Ellis was legal advisor to STX on the deal while Raine Group was financial advisor.