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Japan’s SoftBank said to be in talks to acquire DreamWorks
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JAPAN’S SoftBank Corp is in talks to acquire DreamWorks Animation SKG, the Hollywood studio behind the “Shrek” and “Madagascar” movie hits, a person with knowledge of the situation said.
An acquisition of DreamWorks by SoftBank would make it part of a cash-rich Japanese communications and media company that, under founder and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son, has shown a willingness to take big bets on combining disparate businesses.
The talks were first reported by the Hollywood Reporter quoting an unidentified source as saying a buyout would value DreamWorks at US$3.4 billion.
The entertainment trade publication said SoftBank had offered US$32 per share for DreamWorks, a substantial premium to the stock’s Friday closing price of US$22.36.
Buying DreamWorks, which is headed by veteran Hollywood producer and film executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, would make SoftBank the second Japanese technology company to buy a Hollywood studio, following Sony Corp, which bought Columbia Pictures in 1989.
SoftBank has recently cashed in on a share of its investment in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and dropped its pursuit of mobile carrier T-Mobile US in the face of opposition from anti-trust regulators in the US.
Last week, SoftBank booked a US$4.6 billion gain on the share listing of Alibaba Group in New York. SoftBank retains a 32 percent stake, making it Alibaba’s biggest shareholder.
SoftBank has significant stakes in other large listed entities, including US mobile carrier Sprint, through which it had pursued a deal for T-Mobile, Internet portal Yahoo Japan and online games maker GungHo Online Entertainment.
In July, SoftBank hired former Google executive Nikesh Arora to run a newly created unit called SoftBank Internet and Media, reporting directly to Son, in a move that stoked speculation the telecommunications firm may be moving to buy content production assets.
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