'Culture = Growth Engine' Lee Jae-hyun's Ambition... CJ ENM Invests 920 Billion KRW in US Studio

Chairman Lee Jae-hyun Names 'Culture' as Fourth Growth Engine
Following Studio Dragon, Acquires 80% Stake and Management Rights in Endeavor Content as Second Pillar

Establishing Global Content Production Base
Boosting Tving's Overseas Expansion... Securing Original IP
Trust with Vice Chairman Lee Mi-kyung Also Plays a Role

Lee Jae-hyun, Chairman of CJ Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] CJ ENM is investing 920 billion KRW in Endeavor Content, a global premium studio in the United States, in line with CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun’s future roadmap, which has identified 'Culture' as one of the four major growth engines. Alongside domestic Studio Dragon, it will serve as one of the two pillars for global content production. The online video streaming service (OTT) Tving will also gain enhanced competitiveness in the original intellectual property (IP) wars against Netflix, Disney Plus (+), and others.

Acquisition of 80% Stake... Condition to Retain Key Management

On the morning of the 19th, CJ ENM held a board meeting and resolved to acquire approximately 80% of the shares, including management rights of Endeavor Content, a production studio under the global sports & entertainment group Endeavor Group Holdings, for 775 million USD (920 billion KRW).

The total enterprise value of Endeavor Content is 850 million USD (about 1 trillion KRW). To ensure stable business operations and build cooperative relationships after the acquisition, the remaining shares will be held by the existing major shareholder, Endeavor. The condition also includes retaining key executives and core personnel such as Endeavor Content’s co-CEOs Chris Rice and Graham Taylor. The two companies plan to complete the acquisition process by the first quarter of next year.

Founded in 2017 by Endeavor Group, Endeavor Content is a global major studio producing and distributing well-made films, broadcasts, and content. It has bases in 19 countries worldwide, including Europe and South America, and distributes content to broadcasters such as HBO and BBC, as well as OTT platforms like Netflix, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime. It has participated in investment, production, distribution, and release of projects such as "La La Land," "Call Me by Your Name," and "Killing Eve," and currently has over 300 projects either in production or in planning and development stages.

Largest M&A in History... Full-Scale Expansion of K-Content

CJ ENM, which has achieved the largest global merger and acquisition (M&A) since starting its cultural business, plans to use Endeavor Content as a global base and target consumers worldwide to actively prepare for the expansion of K-content, including remakes of hit works owned by CJ ENM.

Previously, CJ ENM has actively pursued remakes in global markets such as the United States based on its own IP. Through this acquisition of Endeavor Content, it has secured not only production but also global OTT and channel distribution channels. This means CJ ENM has established a structure to continuously showcase its IP locally.

Securing original IP and expanding profitability accordingly is also an advantage. The IP acquired by Endeavor Content can be fully utilized by CJ ENM, enabling not only IP distribution but also profitability enhancement through business model diversification. Original content is also expected to contribute to strengthening the global competitiveness of the OTT platform Tving, which is preparing to enter the global OTT market.

Endeavor CEO: "Long-standing Trust with Vice Chairman Lee Mi-kyung"

The decisive factor in CJ ENM’s victory in the fierce global acquisition battle is believed to be Chairman Lee Jae-hyun and Vice Chairman Lee Mi-kyung’s strong will and attachment to the cultural business. On the 3rd, Chairman Lee announced the mid-term vision through a special production video, stating, "I will invest more than 10 trillion KRW over the next three years focusing on four major growth engines: Culture, Platform, Wellness, and Sustainability." He particularly emphasized the intention to expand and nurture the culture and platform businesses.

CJ ENM’s years-long search for acquisition opportunities with North American studios and excellent production companies also played a role. A company official explained, “It is rare for a global studio with excellent planning and production capabilities like Endeavor Content to come to the M&A market. Thanks to our early recognition of Endeavor Content’s outstanding capabilities, we were able to form a task force (TF) and actively participate in acquisition negotiations as soon as it appeared on the market.”

Endeavor, the parent company of Endeavor Content, also highly evaluated the excellence of the IP owned by CJ ENM as a creative partner. Since January, CJ ENM has been promoting a strategic partnership between its drama production subsidiary ‘Bon Factory’ and Endeavor Content, producing content utilizing the IP of both companies.

Endeavor Content’s co-CEOs Chris Rice and Graham Taylor said, “We are pleased to provide greater value to our artists, creators, and business partners through this opportunity,” and added, “We will produce various content with global competitiveness together with CJ ENM.”

Ari Emanuel, co-founder and CEO of Endeavor, said, “We have aimed to be a studio where artists can fully express their capabilities based on creative freedom and ownership,” and added, “Thanks to the long-standing trust with Vice Chairman Lee Mi-kyung, we firmly believe that CJ ENM will sustain these values of Endeavor Content and grow it globally.”

Separate Studio Also Established... Kang Ho-sung: "Unhesitating Change and Innovation"

Kang Hoseong, CEO of CJ ENM

Meanwhile, CJ ENM announced that it is also promoting the establishment of a separate studio producing multi-genre content such as entertainment, drama, film, and animation through a physical division. The purpose of this establishment is to strengthen global content production capabilities by building an efficient multi-studio system and maximizing profit businesses such as IP distribution through global content expansion.

CJ ENM plans to increase the supply of K-content capable of targeting the global market by acquiring Endeavor Content to secure global studio and distribution pipelines, while additionally establishing a multi-genre studio on the scale of Studio Dragon. Under Studio Dragon and the multi-genre studio will be Moho Film, Munhwa Warehouse, Million Volt, Vlad Studio, M Makers, GTist, Hwa & Dam Pictures, JK Film, and others. The studios will serve as control towers for content planning, portfolio strategy establishment, and content investment, while the affiliated production companies will be responsible for planning, production, and nurturing creators.

CJ ENM will develop Endeavor Content as its global base camp, Studio Dragon as a specialized studio that plans, produces, and supplies K-dramas to domestic and overseas broadcasters and OTTs in a one-stop process, and the newly established studio as a multi-genre studio capable of content convergence such as entertainment, drama, film, and animation. The plan is to complete a self-contained production ecosystem.

Kang Ho-sung, CEO of CJ ENM, said, “The planning and production capabilities of Endeavor Content, which is rapidly growing based in the U.S. and Europe, combined with CJ ENM’s K-content production know-how and successful IP, will create the best synergy,” and added, “Ultimately, our goal is to leap forward as a super-gap global major studio encompassing both Eastern and Western cultures.” He continued, “The transformation into a multi-studio system through the acquisition of Endeavor Content and the establishment of additional studios marks the beginning of CJ ENM’s full-fledged move to become a global total entertainment company. We will continue to lead global challenges without hesitation and pursue change and innovation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.