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By Dawn Chmielewski and Amy-Jo Crowley
(Reuters) - Blackstone is exploring options for Hello Sunshine, one of the best-known assets in the portfolio of its Hollywood media company, Candle Media, including the possibility of combining it with another company, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Candle Media's acquisition of Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine, the female-focused entertainment company behind Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show” and Amazon's "Daisy Jones & the Six," catapulted the fledgling media company to prominence in 2021.
As with other independent production companies, Hello Sunshine has struggled as video streaming services cut spending and the Hollywood strikes froze production, three of the people said. Its diversified business, which includes an in-house social agency called Solar, that connects brands to women through storytelling, an annual Shine Away event and Reese's Book Club, helped it remain profitable despite the recent entertainment industry turmoil, a fourth person said.
Blackstone and Candle Media executives are considering options that would give Hello Sunshine greater scope and scale, such as combining it with another studio, according to the four people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private. These sources caution that Blackstone is not actively soliciting offers, though one of the sources added that in a period of media consolidation, "every single independent studio is looking to pick a dance partner."
"While we don’t comment on deal speculation, we regularly explore strategic opportunities to drive growth, maximize value, and remain adaptable in a rapidly evolving industry," a spokesperson for Candle Media said.
RTL Group, Europe's largest broadcaster, is exploring options for its Fremantle production unit, including a merger, given a broader cutback in TV commissioning across the industry, Reuters previously reported. British broadcaster ITV has also been holding early-stage talks with Abu Dhabi-backed group RedBird IMI about a possible merger of their respective studio businesses.
The private equity firm that backed Candle Media’s high-profile acquisitions -- including its $900-million deal for Hello Sunshine -- recently conducted a strategic review of all of the Candle Media businesses, the people said.
Blackstone decided to sell Candle Media's ATTN, a media company best known for topical short-form videos targeting Gen-Z and millennials, following inquiries from prospective buyers, two of the sources said.