Paramount Is Said to Be in Title Talks
A private equity group headed by billionaire George Soros has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire the 59-title movie library of DreamWorks SKG from Paramount Pictures, according to sources familiar with the talks.
Paramount had been seeking as much as $1 billion for the library, which includes such titles as “Catch Me If You Can,” “Gladiator” and “American Beauty.”
Paramount wants to defray some of the $1.6-billion price tag, which includes cash and assumed debt, to buy DreamWorks.
Founded in 1994 by director Steven Spielberg, mogul David Geffen and veteran studio executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks reached agreement last month on a sale to Paramount.
Its animation unit was previously spun off into a public company.
Paramount probably would continue to distribute the DreamWorks library.
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