‘Expendables’ producer Millennium Films sells majority stake to Chinese company for $100 million

Millennium Films, the producer of the “Expendables” movies and the most recent “Rambo” sequel, has agreed to sell a 51% stake to Chinese conglomerate Recon Group for $100 million.

Recon, known for owning the Aston Villa Football Club in Britain, will acquire a majority ownership of Los Angeles-based Millennium and its nearly 300-film library, the companies said Thursday.

The sale of Millennium, co-founded in 1996 by Avi Lerner and Trevor Short, marks the most recent tie-up between Hollywood and China, which is the second largest film market behind the U.S. and Canada.

Millennium produces, finances and handles foreign sales for five to eight movies a year, with budgets between $20 million and $80 million. Some of its movie franchises, including “The Expendables,” “London Has Fallen” and “The Mechanic,” have proven popular in China. Its upcoming movies include “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” starring Ryan Reynolds, and “Escobar” with Javier Bardem.

Chinese companies including Dalian Wanda Group and Alibaba Pictures have made recent investments in American film companies and movie slates. Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Amblin Partners have all taken on film financing from China in recent months.

However, there is growing caution in Hollywood about China deals as the Chinese government, in a move to protect its currency value, restricts money moving out of the country. The crackdown is said to have held up the closing of Wanda’s $1-billion purchase of Dick Clark Productions announced last year.

Nonetheless, the Millennium deal is expected to close in the first half of 2017, the companies said.

Recon, based in Yixing, China, has wide-ranging business holdings in industries including information technology services, health and agriculture, and financial services. Recon Chairman Tony Xia is set to serve as chairman of Millennium Films, while Lerner will act as chief executive.

ryan.faughnder@latimes.com

@rfaughnder