Dan Mintz firm linked to $2bn Paramount stake

Dan Mintz’s DMG Entertainment has been named a potential buyer of a 40% stake in Viacom’s film division, Paramount Pictures.

According to Deadline, DMG is prepared to pay US$2 billion for the stake, which would make the LA- and Beijing-based company a significant shareholder in Paramount.

Viacom put a chunk of Paramount up for sale last month, with CEO and chairman Philippe Dauman suggested “several” interested parties were involved in sell-off process.

Selling some of Paramount, which has struggled to hit with recent film releases but has a significant library, would release cash to shareholders, many of whom are demanding a better performance from the wider Viacom group.

Paramount Television sits within Paramount. This is producing Nickelodeon’s TV remake of Jack Black movie School of Rock and has various other projects in the works.

For DMG, meanwhile, the news follows its 61% majority deal of Taiwan’s leading Mandarin-language broadcaster, Eastern Broadcasting Corp., for US$600 million from private equity firm Carlyle Group. That is still awaiting regulatory approval.

Deadline reports DMG, which is US-based but operates largely in China, would partner with a Chinese private equity to pay for the Paramount stake.

The site also notes two other Chinese firms – Dalian Wanda, which recently bought Legendary Entertainment, and e-commerce giant Alibaba, whose deal for on-demand service Youku Tudou was yesterday given shareholder approval – have been linked to a Paramount stake.