China’s Fosun to buy stake in Hollywood’s Studio 8

China’s Fosun Group, the investment company founded and led by billionaire Guo Guangchang, said it planned to buy a stake in the Studio 8 film production company of Jeff Robinov, former president of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.

Fosun, whose president has been nicknamed “the Chinese Warren Buffett” by the international business press, revealed its plans in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where its shares are listed, though it gave no details as to the amount.

“The company looks with optimism to the future of the Chinese film industry,” Fosun said in the document, where it noted that it hopes, by means of the accord, to apply Hollywood’s experience and knowhow to the production and distribution systems of the growing movie market in its own country.

The official Shanghai Daily reported that Fosun’s stake in the studio could complicate even more the negotiations that another big Chinese production company, Huayi Bros., has been engaged in for some time to obtain shares in Studio 8.

Robinov has spend months looking for financing for his studio, for which he hopes to obtain up to $300 million (220 million euros).