SoftBank To Invest $250 Mln In Legendary Entertainment

(RTTNews) - SoftBank Corp. and Legendary Entertainment said Thursday that they have reached a definitive agreement under which SoftBank will invest $250 million in Legendary.

The two companies also said they will form a joint venture to exploit Legendary's intellectual property rights, including in television, digital, licensing and merchandising and other ancillary lines, across various "over-the-top"/mobile platforms with a particular focus on the burgeoning China and India markets.

Nikesh Arora, Vice Chairman of SoftBank and CEO of SoftBank Internet and Media, Inc. ("SIMI") said, "Our goal at SIMI is to leverage SoftBank's international platform and network of Internet and media partners to accelerate content creators' digital strategies and extend their global reach. Legendary is already a content powerhouse and we are very excited to make this investment and help them bring their incredibly successful film franchises and other exciting new media content to an even larger global audience."

Legendary's Chairman and CEO, Thomas Tull, said "Masayoshi Son has built SoftBank into one of the world's most respected companies. With the arrival of Nikesh and the launch of SIMI, they have a great opportunity to extend their reach into media and entertainment. We are excited to be one of SIMI's first partners and look forward to working together to deliver the next phase of Legendary's growth."

SoftBank's investment is expected to close in October. Nikesh Arora, Vice Chairman of SoftBank and CEO of SoftBank Internet and Media, Inc., will be appointed to Legendary's Board of Directors as part of the investment.

The announcement comes days after reports that Tokyo-based SoftBank's talks to buy DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (DWA) have cooled.