Reese Witherspoon’s multimedia business, Hello Sunshine, is selling to a company backed by private equity giant Blackstone Group Inc., the companies said, as part of a plan to create an independent entertainment company for the age of streaming in Hollywood.
The companies did not disclose terms of the agreement. People familiar with the matter said it valued Ms Witherspoon’s company, whose production slate included programs such as the HBO drama ‘Big Little Lies’, at around $900 million.
The as-yet-unknown media company that Blackstone is backing will be run by the former Walt Disney Co. DIS,
executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. Hello Sunshine will be its first acquisition. Ms Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine Managing Director Sarah Harden will join the board of the new company and continue to operate Hello Sunshine.
Blackstone is spending more than $500 million in cash to buy shares from existing Hello Sunshine investors, including AT&T Inc. T,
and Emerson Collective, some people familiar with the matter said. Ms Witherspoon and some Hello Sunshine executives and investors will turn the remaining capital into stakes in the new company that Blackstone is forming.
An expanded version of this article appears on WSJ.com.
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