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Abu Dhabi investor United Al Saqer Group (UASG) will invest $200 million in the London-based visual effects and animation studios DNEG Group, at an enterprise value in excess of $2 billion.
The deal will also include the development of ecosystem in Abu Dhabi for content production, storage, and distribution through a new office and visual experience hub, a statement read, leading to the creation of jobs in the media and technology sectors.
DNEG Group said the company was looking to evolve from a visual effects services provider to a content production and AI-powered technology partner, which will include activating its technology division, Brahma, which is developing an AI-powered, photo-real CGI creator. The capital injection will also permit the group’s content arm Prime Focus Studios to make further investments in production.
DNEG also announced some changes to its management team, with the group’s Chairman and CEO Namit Malhotra to continue in his current role, while being joined on the Group’s Board of Directors by Nabil Kobeissi and Edouard Zard from UASG, and by Prabhu Narasimhan from NaMa Capital, an investor in The DNEG Group, who will also become Executive Chairman of Brahma. Prabhu Narasimhan will take a leave of absence from NaMa Capital to oversee the launch and expansion of Brahma.
Speaking about the Abu Dhabi hub, Malhotra said: “We are building on our success with the opening of a studio in Abu Dhabi, bringing content creation and technological capabilities to the region, positioning us as a leader there, and allowing us to leverage our global capabilities like no other.”
DNEG is known for its work on movies and animations, such as ‘Dune', ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Interstellar’, as well as the ‘Harry Potter’, ‘James Bond’, ‘Fast and Furious’, ‘Mission: Impossible’ and Marvel Cinematic Universe franchises.
(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Saria)
