12:40 pm PST 2/16/2021
in
Kim Masters
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The ambitious venture, in which Mayer is partnering with former Disney chief operating officer Tom Staggs, is expected to focus on a broad portfolio of companies that can encompass social media, music, entertainment and e-commerce.
Former Disney and TikTok executive Kevin Mayer is exploring a deal to open several independent media and entertainment companies, including Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings and Ben Silverman’s Propagate Content, sources with knowledge of the talks say The Hollywood Reporter.
Blackstone is financing the venture and is expected to invest a minimum of $ 2 billion as part of an expansion of its media and entertainment holdings, an experienced source said. The ambitious venture, in which Mayer is partnering with former Disney chief operating officer, Tom Staggs, would focus on a broad portfolio of companies that could encompass social media, influencers, music, musicians, film, television and e-commerce, he adds. the source.
Mayer, who said he tried unsuccessfully to court Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment, declined to comment. A Imagine spokesman says the company is not involved.
If a deal is struck, it will align two of the biggest – and most controversial – personalities in the world of entertainment and music. Silverman and a Braun representative were not immediately available for comment.
Silverman, the daring former co-chairman of NBC Entertainment who brought The office for the American public, he co-founded Propagate Content in 2015 alongside his longtime business partner and former president of National Geographic Channels, Howard T. Owens. The producer, who received a substantial investment from the Raine Group in 2018, is behind Hulu’s Amazon documentary Hillary Clinton Lore and oxygen Up and Vanished.
The company also owns producer Electus, founded by Silverman more than a decade ago with the support of IAC. Through this 2018 agreement for Electus, Propagate acquired a majority stake in talent management company Artists First, which works with everyone from Kenya Barris to Will Arnett to Awkwafina.
Braun, the talent manager who helped shape the careers of artists like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, over the past few years has made Ithaca Holdings a sizable business. The group is the parent company of Schoolboy Records, a label that works with Carly Rae Jepsen, Psy and Tori Kelly. Through SB Projects, he managed Bieber, Grande, Demi Lovato, Black Eyed Peas, Idina Menzel and others. The company also operates Sheba Publishing, a joint venture with Universal Music Group Publishing.
In 2019, Braun paid $ 300 million to acquire the Big Machine Label Group, which works with a number of country and pop bands. At the time, investor Carlyle Group offered a new infusion of cash valuing Ithaca at around $ 800 million.
The Big Machine deal sparked a public dispute with Taylor Swift, who launched the label in 2005, but has since joined Republic Records over ownership of their six album catalog. Since then, Swift has announced that he will re-record all of his Big Machine albums. A re-recorded version of his 2008 album Fearless will be released on April 9.