Hello Sunshine backer Blackstone exploring options for Reese Witherspoon outfit
Reese Witherspoon in Hello Sunshine’s The Morning Show
Private equity giant Blackstone is exploring options including a merger for Reese Witherspoon-led media company Hello Sunshine, according to a Reuters report.
Hello Sunshine sits under Blackstone-backed media roll-up Candle Media, which acquired the actor’s company in 2021 for around US$900m amid a flurry of dealmaking.
In the 12 months that followed, Candle Media, led by former Disney executives Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer, went on to acquire CoComelon maker Moonbug Entertainment, Israel’s Faraway Road Productions and Spanish-language studio Exile Content Studio.
In early 2021, Mayer said Candle Media’s trajectory was “likely an IPO.”
“We’ve built a company now that has the scale and the financial contours to actually go public whenever we want to go public,” he said during a panel at Texas festival SXSW.
However, 2021 proved to be the top of the market, as the content pullback precipitated by the ‘great Netflix correction’ in April 2022 sent valuations plummeting.
Over the past two years, Candle Media has moved to consolidate and centralise some of the operations of its subsidiary companies. In addition, Hello Sunshine last year reorganised its live-action assets under a new Candle Studios.
According to Reuters, which cited anonymous sources, Blackstone and Candle Media execs are looking at potential deals that would give Hello Sunshine “greater scope and scale.” Among the options being discussed is combining it with another studio. Reuters’ report added that Blackstone is not actively soliciting bids.
Despite its challenges, Hello Sunshine has remained profitable, according to Reuters, in part due to its diverse business model, which spans TV and film production as well as Reese’s Book Club and its in-house agency Solar.
On the TV side, Hello Sunshine’s roster of production credits includes The Morning Show (Apple TV+), Side Hustlers (Roku), Big Little Lies (HBO), From Scratch (Netflix) and Daisy Jones & the Six (Prime Video).
Reports of Hello Sunshine seeking a merger partner come as myriad studios explore their options.
Among them, RedBird IMI and ITV are reportedly exploring a tie-up that would bring together All3Media and ITV Studios, while Fremantle is also reportedly exploring its own options. Last week, Banijay Group CEO François Riahi said Banijay Entertainment wanted to be part of the next wave of M&As and would be looking at opportunities that arise.
