Red Arrow Studios Sells U.S. Operations to Peter Chernin

Red Arrow Studios’ U.S. production companies, a portfolio that includes Kinetic Content, Left/Right, 44 Blue, Half Yard Productions and Dorsey Pictures, have been sold to Peter Chernin’s new venture, The North Road Company.

ProSiebenSat.1 Group has offloaded the U.S. operations of Red Arrow Studios as part of its efforts to focus its production efforts on local content for the German-speaking markets. Red Arrow Studios International remains within the group, as do outlets such as Redseven Entertainment, CPL Productions, Endor Productions, Snowman Productions and July August.

The transaction is based on an enterprise value of $310 million, with a purchase price of around $200 million. Chernin launches The North Road Company with backing from Providence Equity Partners and Apollo. Its assets include Chernin Entertainment, Kinetic Content, Left/Right, 44 Blue Productions and Words + Pictures.

“We continuously verify that our companies are fully aligned with our strategy and financial targets,” said Rainer Beaujean, group CEO. “In the entertainment business, this means that we need production companies that understand the cultural characteristics and preferences of our viewers. After all, local content is what sets us apart from the competition. Such production businesses are, besides our German companies, our assets in countries such as Denmark and the U.K. It was therefore consequent that we keep these companies within our group. Our top priority is to link them even more closely with our entertainment platforms. Our U.S. production companies have created successful and popular TV brands in the U.S. market, but do not strengthen our strategy in the German-speaking region in the long term. For North Road, they will make a significant contribution. We wish them all the best for this and thank them very much for our time together.”