ViacomCBS to pay $375 million for 49 percent stake in Miramax

ViacomCBS bought a 49-percent stake in Miramax, the indie film studio founded by disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and his brother, Bob.

The deal — in which ViacomCBS will pay $375 million to Miramax’s current owner, Qatar-based beIN Media — will give ViacomCBS the ability to capitalize on Miramax’s award-winning film library.

As part of the deal, ViacomCBS’s movie studio Paramount has inked an exclusive, long-term first-look agreement allowing it to develop, produce, finance and distribute new film and TV projects based on Miramax’s library, according to ViacomCBS boss Bob Bakish.

Famous flicks churned out by Miramax include “Pulp Fiction,” “Kill Bill,” “Shakespeare in Love” and “The English Patient.”

The Weinstein brothers are no longer involved in Miramax. They sold the studio — named for their parents Miriam and Max Weinstein — to Disney in 1993. In 2010, Disney sold the company to Filmyard Holdings, a joint venture of Colony NorthStar, Tutor-Saliba Corporation and the Qatar Investment Authority. Six years later, Miramax was sold to beIN, a sports & entertainment firm.

Under the deal, expected to close in the first quarter, ViacomCBS, which includes CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and Comedy Central, will pay roughly $150 million to beIN, along with a commitment to invest $45 million a year over the next five years in new film and TV productions and working capital.

The investment comes at an important time for ViacomCBS, which closed its own deal last month to merge Viacom and CBS. That $11.8 billion all-stock deal was inked in order for the company to better compete with the likes of streaming giants Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and Disney.

“This partnership with beIN will be a unique opportunity to gain access to a valuable library, deepening our already substantial pool of IP [intellectual property] at a time when demand for premium content is only accelerating,” said Bakish.

ViacomCBS said it will also explore other content production, distribution and live event options with beIN, globally.

BeIn, which is known mostly for its global sports rights portfolio, had been quietly shopping Miramax since the spring. A source said that it had entertained various suitors, including Los Angeles-based film studio Lionsgate.

ViacomCBS not only came up with the money, but the company was the best fit for Miramax, according to a source, who noted that Paramount chief operating officer Andrew Gumpert had worked at Miramax in the late Nineties and early aughts under the Weinsteins.