Saban launches $500M brand acquisition effort

Billionaire media mogul Haim Saban’s Saban Capital Group last week said it formed a new unit called Saban Brands, which will dedicate more than $500 million to buying consumer brands.

“As media and consumer options become increasingly fragmented and proliferated, our underlying thesis is that properties that resonate with consumers today will only become more meaningful over time,” Saban said in a statement.

Adam Chesnoff, president and COO of Saban Capital, said the group will announce its first an acquisition of a well-known brand in the next few weeks.

“We are pursuing a number of brands and hope to make our first announcement very shortly,” he told Reuters.

He said the group was looking into brands in the apparel and content business.

Saban Capital was formed in 2001 by Saban, founder of Fox Family Worldwide, which he owned in partnership with News Corp. until its sale to Walt Disney Co. for about $2.9 billion. —Sue Zeidler, Reuters