The Board of Entertainment One announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Alliance, a leading independent distributor of filmed entertainment products in Canada, the United Kingdom and Spain, from affiliates of the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Investissement Québec for approximately CAD$225 million, comprising CAD$174.2 million payable in cash to the Sellers on Completion and the balance representing the pay down of net debt as at Completion.
The combination of Entertainment One and Alliance will establish the company as the largest independent film distributor in each of the Canadian and UK markets. The directors believe that the acquisition will strengthen Entertainment One’s existing film distribution business and help drive growth.
Alliance and Entertainment One operate in geographies that are highly complementary and the Enlarged Group will have an international reach across Canada, the United Kingdom, Benelux, Australia, the United States and Spain.
Alliance’s film library includes some of the most commercially successful independently produced titles of the last twenty years, including Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Lord of the Rings, The King’s Speech and The Hunger Games.