LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (VREG) has completed a $480 million recapitalization, including $325 million of new capital from a consortium of worldwide investors (including Vine Alternative Investments, Falcon Investment Advisors, and Village Roadshow Limited). The facility was arranged by the Company and placed by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, with Moelis & Company acting as financial adviser to the Company.
Village Roadshow Pictures (VRP), working with its joint syndication agents Rabobank International and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, has also launched a renewal of its $750 million film production facility. The facility finances VRP’s library of titles co-produced with Warner Bros. Pictures, Sony Pictures, and other major distributors.
“This funding demonstrates the underlying strength of Village Roadshow Pictures and its longevity in the industry,” said Graham Burke, VREG Chairman and Co-Chairman & Co-Chief Executive Officer, Village Roadshow Limited.
"With this new phase, we are thrilled to be moving towards our third decade of filmmaking in partnership with Warner Bros. and the start of our journey with Sony,” said Greg Basser, Chief Executive Officer, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group. “This capital will strengthen VREG’s financial resources and our capacity to make more films.”
“We are excited to continue growing our lineup of co-produced films with our partners and build off recent hits American Sniper and Mad Max: Fury Road with highly anticipated films including In The Heart of the Sea and King Arthur with Warner Bros. and Concussion and Ghostbusters with Sony,” said Bruce Berman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Village Roadshow Pictures.
After almost twenty years, VRP stands as one of the leading independent film production companies with a library of 85 films generating over $15 billion in global box office receipts under key partnerships with Warner Bros. Pictures and Sony Pictures.
Upcoming Village Roadshow Pictures releases in 2015 include “Goosebumps” starring Jack Black, directed by Rob Letterman (October 16, 2015), “In the Heart of the Sea” starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Ron Howard (December 11, 2015), and “Concussion” starring Will Smith and directed by Peter Landesman (December 25, 2015).
The 2016 releases include “Grimsby” starring Sasha Baron Cohen and Mark Strong, directed by Louis Leterrier (March 4, 2016), “Tarzan” starring Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie and Samuel L. Jackson, directed by David Yates (July 1, 2016), “Ghostbusters” starring Melissa McCarthy and Kristin Wiig, directed by Paul Feig (July 15, 2016), “King Arthur” starring Charlie Hunnam and Jude Law, directed by Guy Ritchie (July 22, 2016), “The Magnificent Seven” starring Chris Pratt, Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, directed by Antoine Fuqua (September 23, 2016), and “Passengers” starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, directed by Morten Tyldum (December 21, 2016).
The initial 2017 titles include “The Equalizer 2” starring Denzel Washington (September 29, 2017) and “Ready Player One” directed by Steven Spielberg (December 15, 2017).
The facility will also support upcoming product out of the Village Roadshow Pictures Asia (VRPA) label including the release of “Mountain Cry,” which will close the Busan Film Festival next month. VRPA, headed by Asia President and Chief Executive Officer, Ellen Eliasoph, celebrates its fifth anniversary in 2016.
About Village Roadshow Entertainment Group
Village Roadshow Entertainment Group is a leading global entertainment company building premier, content-rich businesses in the entertainment industry. VREG employs innovative strategies to produce, acquire and deliver intellectual properties with timeless appeal, while maximizing group-wide strategic and operational efficiencies. VREG is the holding company of Village Roadshow Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures Asia.
About Village Roadshow Pictures Group
Village Roadshow Pictures Group is a leading independent producer and financier of major Hollywood motion pictures, having produced and released 85 films since its establishment in 1997. VRPG has a successful joint partnership with Warner Bros. and Sony to co-produce a wide range of motion pictures including “American Sniper,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “San Andreas,” “The Equalizer,” “The LEGO Movie,” “The Great Gatsby,” “The Matrix” trilogy, the “Sherlock Holmes” franchise, the “Ocean’s” series, “Happy Feet,” “Mystic River,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and “Gran Torino.”
VRPG filmed entertainment is distributed in select territories around the world by affiliates in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and in all other territories by Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, respectively.
About Village Roadshow Pictures Asia
With a particular focus on the Chinese film industry, Village Roadshow Pictures Asia was established in 2011 to undertake the development, financing, production, marketing and distribution of films for Greater China. Village Roadshow Pictures Asia works closely with creative talent and producers, co-financiers and distributors throughout the Greater China region to identify, develop and co-produce films for release in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand through VRPA’s affiliates, and beyond. The majority of its films are structured as Sino-foreign co-productions and filmed in Greater China. VRPA’s initial projects, Stephen Chow’s Journey to the West and Leste Chen’s Say Yes!, both released in 2013, and its co-production Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal released in February 2015.
