Legendary Entertainment will receive a $250 million investment from SoftBank, the two companies announced on Thursday.
The Hollywood company behind box office monster “Godzilla” also will team with the Japanese financial conglomerate on 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. The venture will place a particular focus on the burgeoning China and India markets.
As part of the investment, expected to close this month, SoftBank’s vice chairman and CEO of SoftBank Internet and Media, Inc. (SIMI) Nikesh Arora will be appointed to Legendary’s board of directors.
“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,” Arora said in a statement.
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Legendary’s CEO Thomas Tull added: “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.”