24-708: Village Roadshow Pty Limited is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital , the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and majority owned by Village Roadshow Corporation, with members of founder Roc Kirby 's family in the top roles. Village Roadshow originally started operations as Village Drive-Ins (later known as "Village Drive-ins and Cinemas" before becoming today's "Village Cinemas" brand), in 1954, when founder Roc Kirby began running one of Australia's first drive-in cinemas in
48-541: A $ 15 million dividend to the existing VRP shareholders and management. In 2008, Concord Music Group merged into Village Roadshow Pictures to form Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (VREG). Investors in VREG included the shareholders of Crescent, as shown above, as well as Australia's Village Roadshow Limited and Tailwind Capital. In 2012, Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures extended their co-financing first look deal through 2017. In May 2014, VRPG established
72-447: A change of name: Village Roadshow Limited. This allowed the company to raise more capital to fund further expansion. In the 1990s, the company diversified into complementary media and entertainment businesses. This included the purchase and development of theme parks, the purchase and integration of the Triple M and Today radio networks to create Austereo , the creation of Roadshow Music,
96-497: A final close of approximately A$ 2.6 billion in May 2018 and is now fully deployed. BGH Capital Fund II achieved final close in February 2022 at A$ 3.6 billion. This represents the largest private equity fund focused on Australia and New Zealand. The following schedule indicates the businesses BGH has targeted and acquired, which they continue to manage. This corporation or company article
120-539: A group led by Act III Communications , Norman Lear and his partner Hal Gaba purchased 50% of Village Roadshow Pictures (VRP). Their entity, Crescent Film Group, included long-time colleague Michael Lambert through Lambert Media Group and Clarity Partners as investors. Crescent invested $ 115 million for its interest in VRP. Village Roadshow Pictures used the $ 115 million invested by Crescent to repay an inter-company loan of $ 100 million owed to its parent company, as well as pay
144-423: A joint venture, Australian Theatres , with Amalgamated Holdings Limited , owners of Greater Union and several other cinema brands. The original founding business, Village Cinemas , is part of the joint venture. In 2008, Village Roadshow and Concord Music Group, co-owned by television producer Norman Lear , said they had completed a merger, forming a new company to exploit their film and music assets. Investors in
168-446: A supplementary co-financing production deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment which commenced with the release of The Equalizer and Annie . A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available capital. In 2013, Concord Music Group was sold to Wood Creek Capital, an affiliate of MassMutual , for approximately $ 120 million. In 2015, VREG, the holding company of Village Roadshow Pictures and Village Roadshow Television,
192-408: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Village Roadshow Entertainment Group Village Roadshow Pictures is an American film company founded in 1989 that co-finances and co-produces major Hollywood motion pictures. It's a division of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group ( VREG ), which in turn is majority-owned by Vine Alternative Investments and Falcon Investment Advisors, with
216-681: The ASX . BGH Capital BGH Capital ( BGH ) is an Australian private equity company established in 2017 by Robin Bishop, Ben Gray , and Simon Harle. BGH is headquartered in Melbourne and is owned and managed by its founding partners. Ben Gray and Simon Harle established and led the Australian and New Zealand private equity team at TPG Capital , while Robin Bishop was previously head of Macquarie Capital Australia and New Zealand. BGH Capital Fund I had
240-578: The Melbourne suburb of Croydon . The drive-in was adjacent to a shopping strip called "Croydon Village"; hence the company adopted the "Village" name. The company later expanded into traditional cinemas in major areas, though it still operates the Coburg Drive-In in Coburg , Melbourne. In 1968, the company expanded to start its film distribution business with Roadshow (once a 50-50 joint venture with Greater Union ) and moved into film production in 1971 with
264-831: The Australian media company Village Roadshow currently holding a 20% minority stake. The company has produced films, including as co-productions with Warner Bros. , The Matrix series, the Sherlock Holmes series, the Happy Feet series, the Ocean's series, The Lego Movie , and Joker . The films in the Village Roadshow library have achieved 34 number-one U.S. box office openings and received 50 Academy Award nominations, 19 Oscars , and six Golden Globe Awards . Village Roadshow Pictures self-distributes its filmed entertainment through affiliates in several territories around
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#1732854990537288-460: The company underwent restructuring with Michael Lake joined the company as managing director. In October 1997, Yoram Gross-Village Roadshow signed a co-production alliance with EM.TV & Merchandising a Munich-based distribution and merchandising company to partner on 10 animated series over the next five years. In December 1997, Village Roadshow Pictures and Warner Bros. signed an agreement to co-finance and distribute at least 20 movies over
312-415: The creation of Village Roadshow Pictures , and the commencement of a co-production deal with Warner Bros. Village Roadshow has scaled back its international cinema markets to Australia and Singapore. The company merged its Village Roadshow Pictures arm with Concord Music Group to form a Los Angeles-based diversified entertainment division, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group. In 2003, the company formed
336-494: The establishment of Hexagon Productions , and the company expanding into a longstanding relationship with Warner Bros. to distribute films in the Australian market. The original cinema chain now became one of several businesses the company was involved in. In the 1980s, Village Roadshow was one of the leading forces in creating state of the art multiplex cinema complexes. Innovations brought in during this period included using stadium-style seating, sophisticated sound systems and
360-453: The existing Roadshow Distributors theatrical branch with Greater Union's own theatrical branch, Greater Union Film Distributors to set up new separate-branding labels, Roadshow Greater Union Distributors and Greater Union Distributors, and RGUD continue to handle the existing suppliers, which included Warner Bros , Orion Pictures and New World Pictures . In 1988, Village Roadshow took over De Laurentiis Entertainment Group , which brought on
384-531: The latest in projection technologies. The cinemas of that era were the forerunners to the multiplexes of today. It was expanded in 1987 when it signed a partnership with rival cinema chain Greater Union to see 200 screens expanded to their circuits by 1990 and having both companies to develop $ 100 million in their equipment. The venture was expanded in September 1987 when Roadshow and Greater Union agreed to combine
408-424: The new company included Michael Lambert and private equity firms Tailwind Capital Partners and Clarity Partners . Then, on March 25, 2013, a Wood Creek Capital led investor group purchased Concord Music Group from Village Roadshow Entertainment Group . In late 2019, company veteran Graham Burke stepped down as CEO and became a non-executive director, with Clark Kirby his successor as CEO. In 2020, Village Roadshow
432-571: The next five years. Under the deal, Village Roadshow would produce the films and Warner Bros. would market and release them worldwide, except in Australia and New Zealand. Bruce Berman , the former Warners’ theatrical production president, signed on as chairman and CEO of the company. In 1998, Village Roadshow Pictures announced that it would sell its television division in a management buyout to Greg Coote and Jeffrey Hayes, who renamed Village Roadshow Pictures Television to Coote/Hayes Productions. Around
456-542: The same time, the company announced it was shutting down the international sales unit. As part of its exit plan from the sales business, Roadshow sold international rights to its Western productions to Icon Entertainment International and the Australian films to Beyond Films Limited . Also that year, Village Roadshow Pictures sold off its 50% stake in the Yoram Gross animated studio venture to EM.TV & Merchandising, which would become Yoram Gross-EM.TV. In 2006, through
480-511: The world, including Australia , New Zealand , and Singapore (the latter through Golden Village ). JPMorgan Chase and Rabobank also provide funding for the company’s film slate with Warner Bros. Village Roadshow Pictures had a second slate co-financing with agreement with Sony Pictures , which ended in 2016. Village Roadshow Pictures was founded in 1989 by Greg Coote, who served as president, when it purchased certain assets of De Laurentiis Entertainment Group . The company’s first film
504-423: Was The Delinquents and its first hit was Fortress in 1992. In 1993, Village Roadshow Pictures expanded into television production with the launch of its first television series Paradise Beach . In 1995, Village Roadshow Pictures launched a television division headed by Jeffrey Hayes. Also that year, the company started an international sales division called Village Roadshow Pictures International, which
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#1732854990537528-526: Was in talks with private equity firm BGH Capital about a takeover offer. The offer was lowered after the COVID-19 pandemic closed theme parks and cinemas. In 2022, Antenna Group announced that it was to acquire the Greek cinema chains from Village Roadshow Operations. In 2023, Village Roadshow renamed their company from Village Roadshow Limited to Village Roadshow Pty Limited, due to them no longer being listed on
552-409: Was led by Bobby Myers. In 1996, Village Roadshow Pictures Television and Yoram Gross formed a joint venture focused on animation. In April 1997, Village Roadshow Pictures and Intermedia formed a joint venture called Village Intermedia Pictures. The deal ended several months later when Village Roadshow Pictures and Intermedia decided to cut ties and became independent again. In September 1997,
576-507: Was recapitalized with a $ 480 million investment that included funds from Falcon Investment Advisors and Vine Alternative Investments. Vine Alternative Investments and Falcon Investment Advisors added additional capital in April 2017 to take a controlling stake in the company. This was to fund a new strategic plan for an expanded film slate and add production of television programs and other content offerings. More recently, Phantom Four Films signed
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