Hackman Capital Partners announced today that it has acquired, through an affiliated entity, The MBS Group, a film and TV studio real estate and production services platform, for $650 million from global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG).
MBS operates two separate, yet complementary businesses: MBS Media Campus and MBS Services. MBS Media Campus, or Manhattan Beach Studios as it is commonly known, is a 22-acre, 587,000 square foot, state-of-the-art studio production facility located in Manhattan Beach, California. Hackman Capital Partners acquired the real estate asset in a joint-venture with an investment partnership led by Square Mile Capital Management. MBS Services is a multi-national, studio-based, best-in-class production services and infrastructure business with a network of more than 35 partner studios including approximately 259 stages across the top TV and film production markets globally. Together, MBS Services provides the resources and infrastructure necessary for content production, consultation services, development, management and operational oversight. The Company’s customer base includes major media and digital content producers as well as best-in-class studio real estate owners with locations in the world’s top production markets.
Michael Hackman, CEO of Hackman Capital Partners, said, “The MBS Group has become the premier platform for content producers around the world and we are thrilled to add the MBS Media Campus to our growing portfolio of studio and media assets. As competition for content continues to increase, we see tremendous opportunities to grow this real estate platform globally with MBS’s experienced and first-rate management team.”
Edward Samek, Managing Director at Carlyle, said, “We are proud of MBS’s evolution over the past 12 years, having built from scratch the services business and expanded the platform both organically and inorganically to create a network of top studios globally. MBS is well-positioned for continued growth, and we are confident they have a bright future ahead. We are pleased to transition this operating business to the Hackman Capital Partners team who have continued to demonstrate extraordinary stewardship of these iconic media assets.”
Richard Nelson, President and CEO of MBS, said, “Ed and the Carlyle team have been exceptional partners for over a decade. Leveraging Carlyle’s global platform, operational expertise and resources, we created and launched an innovative business that expanded from a single location in Los Angeles to become a multi-national provider of services and high-tech solutions for media and entertainment companies. We look forward to partnering with the Hackman Capital Partners team as we continue to grow our platform of providing best-in-class service to the world’s top content creators.”
Carlyle’s US real estate arm, Carlyle Realty Partners, acquired MBS Media Campus from Oaktree Capital Management in 2007. Carlyle transitioned the studio from a third-party managed real estate asset to a full-service, “one-stop-shop” TV and feature film production studio led by a hand-selected, in-house management team. Building on the success of its approach to production services at the Manhattan Beach facility, the Company launched MBS Services to expand with its growing roster of blue-chip customers. Since its inception in 2013, MBS has evolved from a single location in Los Angeles, to become a global market leader, with a physical studio network across ten states in the U.S., and multiple locations across Canada and the U.K. including many of the worlds’ most iconic film studios.
About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across four business segments: Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $223 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2019, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,775 people in 33 offices across six continents.
About Hackman Capital Partners
Founded in 1986, Hackman Capital Partners is a privately-held, real-estate investment and operating company that focuses on buying, renovating and re-imaging vintage commercial, industrial, and studio properties. The company started by acquiring industrial properties throughout the U.S. having owned through affiliated entities over 400 buildings in 41 states totaling 35-plus million square feet. Recognizing the growing demand in the urban markets, Hackman Capital Partners was one of the early pioneers of converting industrial properties into creative office and media space in Southern California. Notable projects include The Culver Studios, a historic 14.3-acre television and film studio in downtown Culver City and home to Amazon Studios; Television City Studios, the iconic former CBS broadcasting facility on 25-acres in the heart of West Hollywood; 5500 West Jefferson Blvd in Los Angeles; the Beats/Apple Southern California headquarters; Westwood One Studios in Culver City and 888 Douglas, a 550,000-square-foot creative media campus conversion on 30 acres in El Segundo. Since inception, the Company has invested more than $4.0 billion in properties and is currently constructing approximately one million square feet of creative office and media-related campus space in Southern California.
About Square Mile Capital Management
Square Mile Capital Management LLC is an integrated institutional real estate and investment management firm based in New York. The firm’s opportunistic equity platform takes a value-oriented approach to its investment activities, with an emphasis on opportunities to acquire or capitalize real estate assets or enterprises that are undervalued, complex or undercapitalized. Square Mile Capital's commercial real estate debt platform provides customized capital solutions for real estate owners and developers throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.squaremilecapital.com.
