WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The leadership of DHS Ventures & Holdings announced today that it will acquire Carolco Enterprises from AXIS Capital, the merchant banking arm of Merrill Lynch. The financial value of the deal was not disclosed but an Economic Times report pegs it at $745 million.
DHS Ventures & Holdings has bought all rights through its associates Bellinger & Sons, Thai Company Limited along with ISK Investment, a DHS Ventures group company.
Carolco Enterprises, which the DHS Ventures & Holdings regards as a core business, is part of the defunct Carolco Pictures that went under in 1975. Carolco was an American independent motion picture production company that existed from 1976 to 1995, founded by Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna. Kassar and Vajna ran Carolco together until 1989. Carolco hit its peak in the 1980s and early 1990s, with blockbuster successes including the first three films of the Rambo series, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Total Recall, Basic Instinct and Stargate. Cutbacks at Carolco also forced the studio to make a deal with TriStar over the funding of the Stallone action film Cliffhanger: Carolco would have to sell full distribution rights in North America, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and France to TriStar in exchange for half of the film’s budget.
“We are thrilled to have acquired Carolco Enterprises which is such a part of Americana and a legacy aspects of motion pictures in the U.S., such a standard in quality of film and movies,” Fernando Aguirre, Vice Chairman of DHS Ventures & Holdings stated.
“This acquisition of Carolco will create a business which will have the advantage of cutting-edge technology and low costs, and will have a truly global footprint in filmmaking and production, which will help us to achieve our vision to be a premium movie studio player, global in size and reach,” Aguirre said.
