Sony Hack scandal renews the discussion of a possible Sony Pictures studio sale.
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With daily reports of negative news about the motion pictures studio, it renews the question if the Japanese parent company, Sony, will sell Sony Pictures.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, last year analysts thought that Sony Pictures was worth 10 Billion and investors were pressuring the movie studio to sell the movie studio.
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Days after the Sony Pictures fiasco was condemned by President Obama, it looks as though CEO Kazuo Hirai might be regretting his decision to resist investors’ proposal because the value of Sony Pictures has dropped.
The debacle surrounding The Interview will cost Sony at least $200 million, some analysts have said. But once costs of the film and marketing are added to costs associated with a computer-system upgrade, class-action lawsuits from former employees as well as some intangibles – like a perceived diminished reputation – the value of the studio could have fallen much further.
As of Friday, Sony shares have fallen 4.9 percent since the hacking was made public Nov. 24, while the broader markets are flat in that time frame, which could indicate investors are at least somewhat worried that the value of Sony Pictures has fallen. The studio has been a somewhat stable revenue generator as the larger Sony has suffered massive losses in recent years, though its performance ebbs and flows and, outside of the Spider-Man property, it does not possess the major franchises of rivals like Disney and Warner Bros. Hirai, though, has been talking up his “One Sony” vision that unites mobile devices, games, music and, of course, TV and film, so he still has little interest in selling off Sony Pictures, say observers. [via]
Many analysts assume that Sony will not sell the movie studio especially since Sony Pictures just hired the real life Olivia Pope to rescue the studio. But, CBS is interested in acquiring a major studio to work alongside their CBS Films. However, they are not alone SoftBank, and Lionsgate are also interested in purchasing the movie studio.
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Last year, Sony Pictures made $501 million, which is a decline from last year after White House Down and After Earth where major disappointments in the box office.
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