Hong Kong’s Ivanhoe Pictures is to merge with Hollywood’s Sidney Kimmel Entertainment (SKE) to form SK Global, an international film and television content producer and financier.
SK Global will control the combined libraries of both companies, comprising more than 75 feature films including Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water, The Place Beyond the Pines, The Age of Adaline, United 93, Adventureland, Lars and the Real Girl, In the Bedroom, Swimfan and A Prairie Home Companion. Several of these titles are reportedly being considered for local-language film and television remake opportunities around the world.Content from the merged company will be released under the separate labels of the original two entities, which first started business collaborations in 2015 on local-language productions in China, South Korea and India for international distribution.
Sidney Kimmel, chairman and CEO of SKE, and Robert Friedland, chairman of Ivanhoe Pictures, will chair operations jointly.
“Our recent collaborations have been immensely successful. Putting our respective operations under a larger tent has been an organic process,” said Kimmel and Friedland. “A unified SK Global gives us the strengthened operations and assets to grow our individual and collective businesses, and to expand the scope and creation of our international content. Initially, we have focused on the United States and Asian markets, but soon we will announce projects in Europe and Latin America where we are actively developing and financing a diverse slate of film and TV projects that will be the subject of forthcoming announcements.”
China-focused private equity fund and investment management company China Cultural and Entertainment Fund (CCEF) is also taking a “substantial” equity position in SK Global.
CCEF chairwoman Yang Liu and managing director Alick Dong will oversee the investment, and provide strategic advice to SK Global as the new venture expands production, distribution and financing apparatus throughout Asia.
Dong will join Kimmel, Friedland and SKE president John Penotti on the SK Global board of directors. Kimmel’s advisor Matthew Kamens and Ivanhoe Pictures vice chairman Gary Gartner also will join the board.
“Yang Liu and her team’s extensive financial and strategic operations in China and Greater Asia afford our new venture a crucial advantage in building new associations and partnerships throughout Asia. We are proud to welcome them to our team,” the chairmen added.
