In another expansion of his independent film and television empire, Byron Allen has added the Weather Channel to his Entertainment Studios portfolio.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but reports peg the acquisition at around $300 million.
Allen, the sole owner of Entertainment Studios, bought the parent company Weather Group through his company Allen Media LLC from Comcast, The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital, which acquired the brand in 2008 for a reported $3.5 billion.
Allen’s deal includes the 24-hour cable weather channel and the Local Now streaming service but not digital elements such as Weather.com, Weather Underground and the Weather Channel app, which IBM bought in 2015 for around $2 billion.
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“The Weather Channel is one of the most trusted and extremely important cable networks, with information vitally important to the safety and protection of our lives,” Allen said in a statement. “The acquisition of the Weather Channel is strategic, as we begin our process of investing billions of dollars over the next five years to acquire some of the best media assets around the world.”
With the addition of the Weather Channel, Entertainment Studios owns eight 24-hour HD cable TV networks including Pets.tv, Comedy.tv and Cars.tv. The company also produces 41 television shows and has released such films as “47 Meters Down” and “Hostiles.”
“We are excited to join Entertainment Studios, and we are especially proud to be part of one of the largest emerging global media companies,” added Weather Channel CEO Dave Shull. “Byron Allen’s purchase of our innovative and forward-thinking organization will increase the value we bring to our viewers, distributors and advertisers.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com.
