A unit of the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec pension fund has become a partner in Mosaic Media Group of Los Angeles, the company announced Thursday.
Caisse unit Capital Communications CDPQ Inc., has partnered with Mosaic, a production and artist management group. Mosaic is composed of six partners, all independent movie producers who started the venture last year. Capital Communications will be the seventh partner.
Neither company would comment on the value of the investment, but Pierre Belanger, president of Capital Communications said the investment is about 10% of the company.
"We liked their vision for the entertainment industry. Obviously they have capital resources which will allow us to exand our different businesses," said Allen Shapiro, president of Mosaic Media.
"They have investments in a broad range of pipelines like cable, wireless, satellites, and all of these systems in the future are going to carry content, and are going to be acquiring content." said Shapiro
Belanger believes the partnership will be mutually beneficial. Mosaic could provide an international market for Quebec-based companies, as well as providing content for Quebec companies in the Capital communications porfolio, including Quebecor Inc.
"We had to position ourselves in the heart of content - that's Hollywood," said Belanger
Some of Mosaic Media's productions, in co-operation with major studios like MGM, include Three Kings, City of Angels, and Scary Movie.
Capital would contribute $2.2 billion toward the purchase. If the bid is successful, Quebecor and Capital would then package Videotron's holdings into a new firm called Quebecor Media, with 55% ownership by Quebecor and 45% held by Capital.
Capital has invested about $4 billion since its inception in 1995.
