China’s Huace to buy stake in Korea’s N.E.W.

The Zhejiang-based company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), agreeing to pay $53m for the stake, which makes it the second biggest shareholder in N.E.W.

The two partners will also launch a joint film venture, which will develop at least two films a year for the next five years.

Huace is one of China’s leading TV producers and a minority investor in John Woo’s upcoming romantic epic The Crossing.  

Established in 2008, N.E.W. is one of Korea’s leading distributors, winning market share in the past few years from the big studios that dominate the market – CJ E&M, Showbox/Mediaplex and Lotte Entertainment.

Last year, N.E.W. was Korea’s second biggest distributor with an 18% market share thanks to hits such as Miracle In Cell No. 7 and The Attorney. Releases so far this year have included erotic drama Obsession and thriller Haemoo.

As this week’s Asian Film Market demonstrated, Chinese media companies are becoming increasingly interested in the Korean market. Korean stars are hugely popular in China and TV dramas such as My Love From The Stars have been big hits on Chinese streaming platforms.

Online video platform iQiyi, which streams My Love From The Stars, announced at Asian Film Market that it had acquired around 90 Korean titles.