IPO Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefShares of China’s Bona Film Group soared by 44% on Thursday, their first day of trading following an initial public offering on the Shenzhen stock market.The company had offered its shares for sale at RMB5.03 apiece. They quickly climbed to RMB7.24, before hitting the market’s ceiling on daily price movements. At this price, the company is valued at RMB9.96 billion or $1.47 billion.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBona Film Group, one of China’s most consistently successful private sector movie studios, is in the final stages of launching an IPO on the Shenzhen stock exchange. The company was behind last year’s “The Battle of Lake Changjin,” the highest grossing film of all time in China.The IPO move represents a return to public company status for a firm that has frequently been ahead of its time.Bona was in the early wave of Chinese companies to list their share in the U.S. and achieved an IPO on the NASDAQ exchange in 2010, in the hope that U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe French audio streaming service Deezer made its debut on the Paris Euronext market Tuesday and immediately plunged 35% from its €8.5 opening, rising slightly to level off at around €6.2 by late in the afternoon.Earlier this year the company, which is one of the world’s largest streaming services despite a relatively low U.S. profile, merged with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with an eye toward going public at a $1.13 billion valuation.

The steady trickle of agents leaving ICM Partners over the past nine months has grown into a stream in the last week, with dozens of reps making inquiries to other agencies and management companies as they mull their future ahead of the pending Department of Justice ruling on ICM’s proposed acquisition by CAA.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentVivendi is on track to own a 57.35-percent stake in Lagardère, the French media, publishing and travel retail conglomerate, following a public tender offer which took place May 27 to June 9. If approved by the anti-trust board, Vivendi will also own 47.33% of the voting rights of Lagardère.

Special purpose acquisition companies—known as SPACs—have been all the rage in the world of investment for the last two years, and they’ve made a mark in the media space, but is the trend slowing down?

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorAs Endeavor marks the first anniversary today of its debut on the New York Stock Exchange, the company deserves credit for doing a lot of things right.The stock has stayed above its IPO price of $24 for most of the past 12 months. The company has generated enough topline revenue gains amid tough economic conditions to demonstrate that its divisions have room to grow.But in other ways, the company led by Ari Emanuel looks to become harder to sell in the future if Endeavor wants to stay a public entity.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorMeta, the social giant formerly known as Facebook, beat Wall Street estimates for earnings in the first quarter of 2022 — but fell short on the revenue front — as it reported its slowest revenue growth as a public company.For Q1, Meta reported revenue of $27.9 billion, up 7% year over year. That’s the company’s lowest topline growth since its IPO in 2012.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese TV producer Linmon Media has filed an application for an initial public offering in Hong Kong. It is the third time that the eight-year-old company has sought a stock market flotation.The heavily-redacted draft prospectus, sponsored by Morgan Stanley and CICC, does not reveal how much fresh capital the company aims to raise, nor the company’s anticipated valuation.

Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel’s 2021 compensation reached $308.2 million, at least on paper, thanks to the company’s initial public offering last April.

Media and technology sector consultant David Carde has filed suit against Endeavor for “breach of implied in fact contract” and “unjust enrichment”, alleging that the powerful talent, sports and events company stole his detailed analysis that led to the company’s successful $10.3 billion IPO in the spring of 2021. In the suit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Carde said that he was not given credit or payment for an analysis that he sent to Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel in 2019 after Endeavor’s failed IPO, which the consultant believes was crucial to the success of the company’s successful IPO effort.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterA media consultant claims in a new lawsuit that Endeavor stole his unsolicited ideas on how to pitch itself to Wall Street, and that his concepts are single-handedly responsible for saving the company from ruin.David Carde, who describes himself as a consultant in the media and technology sectors, alleges that in September 2019 his attorney emailed an 11-page analysis to Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and to Ari Greenburg, the president of WME. He apparently never received a response.At the time, Endeavor was making its first effort to launch an IPO.

No one is ever going to say that Ari Emanuel doesn’t play rough, but a new lawsuit filed today accuses the Endeavor boss of having some very sticky fingers in his well compensated desire to turn his 2019 IPO dreams into a 2021 reality.

Smart-TV maker Vizio, which had its IPO nearly a year ago, reported fourth-quarter results below Wall Street expectations, with revenue slipping 14% from the same period in 2020.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese video streamer iQiyi cut its losses in 2021 to RMB6.2 billion ($968 million), compared to RMB7.0 billion in 2020 and said that recent cost cutting measures were quickly bearing fruit. But its latest regulatory filing also revealed that subscriber numbers continue to fall on both a quarterly and annual basis.The NASDAQ-listed company said that gross revenues for the 12-months to December 2021 were RMB30.6 billion ($4.8 billion), representing a 3% increase on 2020.

TPG, owner of CAA and 30% stakeholder in DirecTV, is on course to raise $1 billion when its stock begins trading Thursday on the Nasdaq at $29.50.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorTPG, the massive private-equity firm whose holdings include CAA, filed to go public.TPG proposed in its IPO filing to raise $100 million, but that’s with the caveat that the figure is only an estimate used to calculate the registration fee. The company said it intends to apply to list its common stock on NASDAQ under the symbol “TPG.”Overall, TPG has investments in more than 280 companies.

TPG, the private equity giant and owner of CAA, announced plans to go public and list its common stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol ‘TPG.’

Private equity firm TPG, the majority owner of talent agency CAA, has filed to go public via an initial public offering. The company will trade on the NASDAQ under the ticker “TPG.” Along with CAA, TPG’s other entertainment and media investments include Spotify, STX Entertainment, Vice Media, Fandom, Entertainment Partners and Cirque du Soleil.

Meme stock engine and message board giant Reddit moved a step closer to a public offering, launching the process this week via a confidential filing with the SEC.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorReddit, the popular internet discussion platform valued at more than $10 billion, said it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement with the SEC for a proposed initial public offering.Reddit announced the IPO filing Wednesday and had previously said it was contemplating going public.

Robert Marich As Hollywood constantly looks to novel forms of funding, the special purpose acquisition company or SPAC, has found new popularity over the past couple of years.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorShares of BuzzFeed dropped 11% on the company’s first day of trading as a public company after merging with a special purpose acquisition company — a disappointing debut for the 15-year-old digital media player.BuzzFeed stock started trading on Nasdaq under the symbol “BZFD” on Monday. Shares opened at $10.95 per share and rose as much as $14.77, before slipping into negative territory in late-morning trading.

tweet from the union’s account. The tweet also included a longer statement which read, “Today, BuzzFeed shareholders are voting to take the company public in a deal that will make our rich executives even richer.

UTA has become the latest talent agency to play in the public markets, forming a special-purpose acquisition company that will start trading tomorrow on the NASDAQ.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWarner Music Group posted a solid fiscal fourth quarter and strong fiscal year results in earnings reported Monday, with revenue up 22.2% (20.8% in constant currency) driven by digital revenue growth of 19% (17.5% in constant currency) across recorded music and music publishing for the quarter; and revenue up 19% (15%) and net income of $307 million (versus a $470 net loss for 2020) for the year.

WeWork co-founder and fallen CEO Adam Neumann said Jared Leto advised him not to watch the upcoming Apple TV+ miniseries WeCrashed where the actor plays the former high-flying executive whose company crashed in 2019 (before being resurrected in a SPAC-led IPO last month). Lawyers for the much-dramatized Neumann recently convinced HBO to tweak some wording around him for an episode of its upcoming miniseries Generation Hustle.

Two years after Hong Kong cracked down on pro-Democracy demonstrators, the local legislature passed a new film censorship law, according to multiple reports. As part of the measure, Hong Kong’s powerful Chief Secretary can now revoke a film’s license if it conflicts with China’s national security interests.

EXCLUSIVE: Actress Jennifer Esposito will make her directorial debut with the independent feature film Fresh Kills. 

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorFaZe Clan says it’s about to become a unicorn.The esports and gaming media company announced plans Monday to combine with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in a deal to become a publicly traded entity — giving it an implied value of $1 billion.FaZe Clan, founded in 2010, said it combine with B. Riley Principal 150 Merger Corp.

Redbox, the 19-year-old entertainment mainstay known for its network of disc-dispensing kiosks, will become a public company on Monday.