Carlyle closed a $175 million asset-backed term loan for New Regency, an independent entertainment company that creates and distributes film, television and documentary content. The loan is a refinancing and upsize of an existing Carlyle facility and will allow New Regency to scale up its production of film and television content. J.P. Morgan will continue to serve as lead left arranger, sole bookrunner and administrative agent for New Regency’s combined $675 million of facilities.
New Regency was founded in 1991 by Arnon Milchan and is currently led by Yariv Milchan as chairman and CEO. The company’s library includes The Revenant, for which Alejandro G. Iñárritu won his second consecutive best director honor at the 2016 Academy Awards, as well as 12 Years A Slave and Birdman, which won best picture at the Academy Awards in back-to-back years (2014 and 2015). Last year, New Regency released the breakout horror hit Barbarian and later this year, it will release The Creator, a sci-fi action film from Emmy-nominated writer-director Gareth Edwards starring John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe and Allison Janney.
“With the proliferation of content distribution platforms in recent years, there is an increased demand for high-quality existing content and new content generation,” Benjamin Fund, a managing director at Carlyle, said. “We are pleased to provide capital in support of New Regency’s impressive slate of new releases across film and TV, as well as continue to support the ongoing licensing of their award-winning, critically acclaimed catalog.”
“We’re delighted to have Carlyle’s continued support in the ongoing strategic growth of our company. Given their knowledge and expertise in the entertainment industry, they remain a key partner in our businesses evolution,” Yariv Milchan said.
