Legendary Entertainment Secures New Line of Credit From JPMorgan – The Hollywood Reporter

Timothée Chalamet at legendary“Dune”.

Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection

At a time of turmoil for both Hollywood and the banking industry, Legendary has secured a sizable credit line from JPMorgan to help it continue producing movies and TV shows.

The company said it had signed a five-year, $800 million credit facility led by JPMorgan Chase & Co, replacing a previous credit facility the independent entertainment company signed with the large bank in 2018.

The deal is a vote of confidence in the company as loan markets begin to tighten amid a challenging macroeconomic environment and rising interest rates.

Led by CEO Joshua Grode, Legendary Pictures supports companies such as dune and Godzilla franchise.Earlier this month it also safe Film and TV Rights for Video Game Franchises street fighter. $800 million would provide a lot of money for a production.

At the end of last year the company also multi-year agreement Partner with Sony to distribute and market its new films.

The new line of credits is also more than a year behind Legendary $760 million minority stake sold Private equity giant Apollo. China’s Dalian Wanda Group remains Legendary’s majority shareholder.

“We are excited to extend our relationship with JPMorgan as we continue to grow our global film and television pipeline and monetize our IP across multiple platforms. The success reflects our intentional strategy of creating engaging content that resonates with audiences around the world,” Gerrold said in a statement. “We look forward to leveraging our relationship to further build on our proven track record of critical and commercial success.”

“Through continued commercial success, Legendary has built a best-in-class company and positioned itself as a true market leader,” said David Shaheen, head of entertainment at J.P. Morgan’s Corporate Client Banking Division. “We are delighted to have executed a very successful transaction with the broad support of the entertainment banking community.”

Legendary’s line of credit also shows that there is life in entertainment banking after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank send out shock waves through the economy. While Hollywood giants have banking relationships with some major players, smaller studios often rely on regional banks that specialize in servicing entertainment clients.

Legendary already had a relationship with JPMorgan before the new deal, but the closing of the deal shows that the big bank is still interested in taking some ventures in the entertainment space.