This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 4, 2016.

LOS ANGELES: Miramax, the film studio behind hundreds of hit movies has been sold to the Doha-based beIN Media Group, the companies announced on Wednesday.

BeIN Media, which runs sports networks and movie channels in 24 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the United States, said Miramax will continue to operate as an independent film and television studio under its new owners.

“We are extremely excited to have achieved this key milestone within our strategy,” said Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman and chief executive officer of beIN Media.

The company was founded in 1979 by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, who sold it to the Walt Disney Company for US$60 million in 1993.

It was bought for more than 10 times that amount in 2010 by an investor group led by real estate magnate Ron Tutor, private equity firm Colony Capital and the Qatar Investment Authority, although Tutor later sold his stake to the Qataris.

Colony and Qatar had reportedly been looking to offload the company with its library for at least a year, although no investor came in for the US$1 billion (RM4.13 billion) asking price. — AFP