CEOs Tell-All: Deals of the Year
Legendary's Joshua Grode, Brillstein's Jon Liebman, Michael Sugar & more name the four biggest M&A moves for the biz (no, Paramount is not one)
Let’s get this out of the way right from the start: 2024 was a weird year for deals. Not a bad year, but definitely not a “normal” one.
That’s how most of my conversations with top Hollywood dealmakers started when I called around asking for their thoughts on the deals of the year, how they’ll impact the landscape moving forward — including future M&A, where everyone is putting their focus and what that means for the health of the overall entertainment ecosystem. Read: Are you in a growth sector of the business or one that’s imperiled?
Befitting the odd year, everyone I interviewed had a different perspective on the most important deal of 2024. Chris Spicer, head of Akin Gump’s media and entertainment group, chalks up the lack of blockbuster M&A largely to “slow recovery from the strikes, continued higher costs of leverage, uncertainty in the marketplace and,” he says, “many companies still wanting the valuation they would have had three or four years ago, which was simply not reflective of the market in 2024.” That said, Spicer’s group still handled about $3.5 billion in deals in media, entertainment and sports this year, which marks an increase from 2023.
Today, we’ll break down four notable M&A deals with an eye towards their implications for the future. You’ll notice below that Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount isn’t among them, and that’s because everyone pretty much has the same opinion: They’re glad the storied studio isn’t going to be stripped for parts.
“It is the biggest trade since we sold MGM to Amazon,” says Chris Brearton, the former MGM COO who helped make that one happen and who’s now a partner in the Russo Bros.’ AGBO. (He told me all about that deal in July.) “All of the rumored suitors would have helped to drive the studio forward, but I was happy to see David [Ellison] conclude the transaction and for Paramount to remain a standalone major studio.”
Today, Legendary CEO Joshua Grode, Sugar23 CEO Michael Sugar, Integrated Media CEO Jonathan Miller, Jon Liebman, co-CEO of Brillstein Entertainment, Brearton and Akin Gump’s Spicer and other lawyers and agents help me break down the good, the bad and the ugly, in which you’ll learn:
The four most important deals of the year
Why three underhyped deals may have the greatest potential impact
The real talk about what Comcast’s SpinCo augurs for Hollywood for the next 25 years
What Legendary’s buyout of its Chinese partner signals for the future of IP
How to interpret Disney’s investment in Epic Games and what it signals
Why the industry should be following Walmart’s lead in tapping into brands’ massive budgets
The stomach-churning lesson for Hollywood from the music industry’s digital disruption (but why it isn’t all bad)
(By the way, my next columns, for paid subscribers, will look at the big NBA rights agreement, the rise of Hollywood deals outside of TV and film, and also where opportunities are blooming for writers and directors in particular; Also in January, I’ll explore potential 2025 deals and M&A trends.)
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