YuuZoo Invests $50 Million in 1st of 3-Part Deal to Buy Relativity

Singapore-based e-commerce platform YuuZoo on Monday made the first of three planned investments to purchase Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Studios.

According to a filing at the Singapore stock exchange, YuuZoo will invest $50 million for a one-third stake in Relativity Studios.

The insider said the YuuZoo acquisition would be structured as follows: a first tranche of $50 million at a $150 million valuation; a second tranche of $50 million at a $200 million valuation, triggered after six months and subject to regulatory approval; and an option for a third tranche of $100 million at a $200 million valuation at 12 months from the original investment — giving the company a post-investment valuation of $300 million.

On Friday, TheWrap’s exclusively reported on the deal, which will include the studio’s existing library of 40 movies, a half dozen more currently in production and a lucrative output deal with Netflix.

The sale is an impressive feat for Kavanuagh, who extracted his core film business from the wreckage of Relativity Media’s Chapter 11 process that began in July 2015, emerging from bankruptcy in March.

YuuZoo went up against two other companies in a bidding war: tech company Lenovo, owned by Chinese investment group Legend Holdings, and another publicly traded Chinese company.