QUEBEC CITY, Canada (BBN) -(Update on February 11, 2020 to add interview with Quebec Premier Francois Legualt) Urban One [Nasdaq: UONEK], the listed African-American media group founded by Cathy Hughes, is currently being eyed by France’s media giant Vivendi (EPA:VIV) owned by Vincent Bollore and Montreal, Canada-based Quebecor [TSE:QBR] owned by Pierre Karl Peladeau, sources close to the situation said.
[Urban One Chairperson and Founder Catherine L. Hughes speaks to Capitol Intelligence/BBN using CI Glass about the new USD 1.4bn MGM Resort and Casino in National Harbor in Prince George’s Georges County, Maryland]
Both Mssrs. Bollore and Peladeau are eyeing a potential 24.9 pct stake in Urban One, the limit that foreign companies can acquire in a US media group regulated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as a means to garner a slice of the Black American annual consumer spend estimated at between USD 1.5tlrn to USD 2trln.
Heading the initiative on the part of Bollore is Franco-Tunisian media tycoon Tarak Ben Ammar who is both a close friend of Bollore but also has a deep knowledge of the Black American experience after befriending black power activist Stokely Carmichael while attending Georgetown University as an undergraduate in the 1960s.
[Nessma owner Tarak Ben Ammar speaks with Capitol Intelligence/CI MENA using Google Glass during Amcham Tunisia’s Investment & Entrepreneurship Conference in Tunis, Tunisia. March 5, 2015]
Ben Ammar is best known for having produced George Lucas’ Star Wars [Tatatoine] and Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark in Tunisia. More recently, Ben Ammar led and organized the sale of The Weinstein Company as TWC’s independent director following the #Metoo sexual molestation scandal of its founder, Harvey Weinstein.
Ben Ammar is the co-producer with Mark Burg of the latest film, American Skin, by African-American director Nate Parker that is premiering at the Venice Film Festival after the talented Parker last film, Birth of a Nation, was mired in #metoo controversy.
His close and long-time friendships with Bollore; News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch; Italian media tycoon and politician, Silvio Berlusconi; and Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding owner Al-Waleed bin Talal — makes Ben Ammar arguably the most influential figure on the European film and media industry.
He also a neighbor and best friend with Egypt’s wealthiest and most dynamic business leader, Naguib Sawaris.
Closer to Washington, DC-based Urban One, Pierre Karl Peladeau is looking for a means to break into the US media market after acquiring a near monopoly of TV and newspapers in his home market of Quebec, legal sources in Quebec City said.
Peladeau is often described the Silvio Berlusconi of Canada for his penchant to mix media ownership with politics following his attempt to be elected the Premier of Quebec for the separatist Parti Quebecois political movement.
[Quebecor owner and CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau speaks to Capitol Intelligence/BBN using CI Glass on improving Quebec US business ties after US-Canada relations fall to the lowest since 1812 on US trade dispute between US President Donald Trump and Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau at a Future of Media Committee meeting at the Quebec Parliament in Quebec City, Canada August 28, 2019]
In fact, Peladeau told Capitol Intelligence that Quebecor is already reaching out to the U.S. market with a recently signed IPTV deal with Comcast/NBC Universal [Nasdaq:CMCSA]. Comcast has been the on/off again partner of Cathy Hughes.
Hollywood is now dependent on the African American and mainland Chinese market for revenue and “eyeballs.”
Montreal’s Peladeau has also made enemies with Quebec Premier Francois Legault regarding his 50% share of the Qeubec news media market and his political ambitions.
Peladeau was formerly the head of Parti Quebecois and is a political rival to former businessman Legualt.
Speaking to Capitol Intelligence at the National Governors Association in Washington, DC, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said he more than welcomes Peladeau expansion in the United States as “he already has a 50% of the Quebec market.”
[Quebec Premier François Legault speaks to Capitol Intelligence/BBN using CI Glass on Quebecor owner and CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau and economic developments in Quebec at National Governors Association Winter Meeting in Washington, DC, February 8, 2020]
One of the most powerful people in Hollywood is Wang Jianlin after he paid USD 2.6bn to acquire North American theater chain AMC Entertainment in 2012 and later pai some USD 3.5bn for Burbank-based studio Legendary Entertainment.
The Hollywood studios are already making made for China major features such as The Great Wall starring Matt Damon and produced by Jialin’s film company, Legendary Entertainment.
Any investment into Urban One, which has a market capitalization of a USD 75m and some USD 800m in debt, would also open the door an important, but little known, power player of Hollywood today: Black Entertainment Television (BET) co-founder Sheila Johnson.
Ms. Johnson is also the person behind Charleston’s most exclusive five star hotel, Hotel Bennett, which competes with nearby Kiawah’s The Sanctuary Hotel.
Ms. Johnson single-handedly convinced Len Blavatnik, the Russian-American oil tycoon and owner of Warner Music,, to help finance Lee Daniel’s The Butler when the major studios took a pass notwithstanding the personal and financial involvement of Oprah Winfrey.
Lee Daniel’s The Butler went on to gross more than USD 150m, giving Blavatknik a tidy profit on his USD 20m investment.
[Black Entertainment Television co-founder and Salamander Resorts & SpA owner Sheila C. Johnson speaks with Capitol Intelligence/BBN using CI Glass on Lee Daniels’ The Butler at Middleburg Film Festival in Middleburg, Virginia. October 24, 2015]
Last year, Ms Johnson used her Middleburg Film Festival hosted at her Salamander Resort to help Green Book sweep this years’ Academy Awards.
In fact, four out of five films that swept the Academy Awards had Black American themes: Greenbook; Spike Lee’s Blackklansman; If Beale Street Could Talk; and Black Panther.
By PK Semler in Quebec City, Canada and Washington, DC.
For more information please call +1-202-549-3399 or email: pks@capitolintelgroup.com.
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