Legendary Entertainment Announces $760m Investment by Apollo Private Equity Funds

Feb 1, 2022 | News

Apollo and Legendary Entertainment announced a $760m equity investment in Legendary, a global media company led by CEO Joshua Grode that develops, produces, distributes and finances major motion picture and TV projects across multiple platforms and maintains leading comic book, VR, licensing and merchandising divisions.

The minority investment comes as Legendary concluded its most profitable year to-date in 2021 and with a strong balance sheet is ramping up production on a large slate of new films and TV series, in the United States and internationally.

Legendary, known for its premium content across genres and platforms, has produced and co-financed top grossing box office franchises such as DUNE and GODZILLA VS. KONG and leading streaming feature film franchises including ENOLA HOLMES and the upcoming films TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and FRESH, plus top performing television series such as “LOST IN SPACE,” “CARNIVAL ROW” and the soon to be released series “PAPER GIRLS” and “LIGHTYEARS.”

Apollo Private Equity Partners Aaron Sobel and Lee Solomon said, “Legendary is known for its world-class content and franchise features and has strong relationships with top studios and streaming platforms alike. In making this fund investment, we were excited by the velocity in their television and film business, the strong management team and the massive secular tailwinds driving the industry. Already, Legendary generates significant free cash flow that’s reinvested in high-growth categories, and we also see compelling M&A opportunities ahead. We view Legendary as a platform for potential follow-on investments and are excited to support Josh, Mary, Chris, Ron and the rest of the Legendary team.”

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Legendary CEO Joshua Grode said, “We are excited to welcome Apollo as a new shareholder in Legendary and equally important as a thought partner in our business. This fund investment from Apollo validates our success to-date and invigorates our growth plans with a strategic capital partner who shares our goal to grow the business. The creative leadership of Mary Parent combined with our commitment to make culturally relevant, entertaining content allows us to continue to build on this success now with the support of Apollo as well as our partners at Wanda.”

“We acquired Legendary in 2016 with a thesis to grow the full scope of content production and distribution globally and have seen strong success to-date. We are pleased to now welcome Apollo as investors in the Company,” said Lincoln Zhang, the lead director on the board of Legendary as a representative of Wanda.

Legendary is well positioned in the entertainment and content ecosystem with capabilities across film, television, digital media and comics, trusted relationships with top studios and streaming platforms, as well as a library of marquee media properties. The Company’s passion for transportive storytelling has driven its success across genres, producing premium content that features top talent and has true multi-platform distribution to engage audiences through a variety of mediums.

Through this fund investment, Apollo was attracted to Legendary’s premium content and distribution capabilities, its significant growth plans for the years ahead, as well as potential synergies with Apollo’s private equity portfolio that includes leading companies in media, gaming and technology. Together with Legendary’s management team Apollo also sees strong potential M&A opportunities for the Company across a variety of media and talent categories.

As a result of the minority preferred equity investment by the Apollo Funds, Apollo Partners Aaron Sobel and Lee Solomon will join the Legendary Board of Directors along with representatives from Wanda and management. Legendary Management will control the operational, creative and strategic direction of the Company.

LionTree served as financial advisor and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as legal counsel to the Apollo Funds in the transaction. Moelis & Company served as lead financial advisor to Legendary and Paul Weiss and Stroock served as legal counsel. Han Kun Law Firm and KL Gates served as legal counsel for Wanda. Centerview Partners advised on pre-transaction matters.

Source: Globe Newswire

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