UK-based SVOD platform MUBI has formed a joint venture with Dong Ping’s Huanxi Media Group to launch a streaming service in China later this year.
Huanxi is taking a 70% stake in MUBI China for $40m with MUBI contributing its intellectual property and know-how for the remaining 30%. Huanxi is also making a strategic investment in MUBI, the London-based parent company, for $10m and an 8% stake, in a deal that values the company at $125m.
Currently available in over 200 territories globally, MUBI introduces its subscribers to one film each day, available for 30 days and accessible across multiple devices, via a monthly or yearly subscription.
MUBI founder and CEO Efe Cakarel said: “The foundation of MUBI has always been to ensure film fans have access to the best films around the globe, from London to Beijing, wherever and whenever they want. Through our partnership with Huanxi, we will be able to do just that; introduce a curated film offering in the country with the largest population in the world – and soon the largest film market in the world.”
Dong Ping has production credits on films including Let the Bullets Fly, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Journey To The West. He was also the founder and chairman of ChinaVision Media Group, which was sold to Alibaba and renamed as Alibaba Pictures Group.
MUBI recently scored a major coup with exclusive rights to Paul Thomas Anderson’s Junun and signed deals with Sony Pictures Television, Paramount Pictures, Miramax, eOne, Icon and StudioCanal.
In April 2016, MUBI is partnering with New Wave Films to release Miguel Gomes’ Arabian Nights theatrically in the UK and online via its streaming service.