Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment Acquired By Chinese Company Camsing International
The media and entertainment company POW! Entertainment, which was founded by Stan Lee, has entered into an agreement with China’s Camsing International Holding whereas the Middle Kingdom company acquired the library of IPs for film, TV, games, virtual reality, animation, live events, tours, comics and publishing. Camsing is looking to create “another ‘Marvel’ in the Asian market.” The Hong Kong-based company, which deals in licensing, merchandising and sports and entertainment marketing, wants to use the strength of the Lee-created POW! IPs to advance in Asia.
Under the new structure, Lee will continue in the Chief Creative Officer role. The Camsing U.S. VP Shane Duffy now will become the CEO of POW! Entertainment, and Gill Champion will transition to President.
Camsing International is a member of Camsing Global Group, a China business consortium founded by Vivian Lo in Hong Kong in 1996. The company has offices in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen, Singapore and Los Angeles.
In making the announcement, Lee said he would be involved in the development and production of POW! Entertainment projects and that the acquisition will allow “additional resources” for his company. He calls it a merger, while Camsing calls it an acquisition.
Said Lo, Camsing’s Chairman and CEO: “I believe the merger will bring significant synergy by combing POW!’s existing intellectual property library and Camsing’s strong IP merchandising network in China, therefore creating value for our shareholders. At the same time, this deal will enhance Camsing’s comic intellectual property creation capability by working with Lee, who is a global proven name. The group will continue to produce better products and content for its global customers and develop another ‘Marvel’ in the Asian market.”
Who is Camsing? The company has worked with Disney, Hasbro, Blizzard, Warner Bros, the NBA and properties including: Transformers, Star Wars, World of Warcraft and Justice of League.
“Adding Stan Lee’s Pow! Entertainment to the Camsing Family and having the distinct pleasure of working with the icon himself, marks an extraordinary opportunity for Camsing,” said Duffy. “It will be a true pleasure to bridge our full portfolio of marketing platforms, distribution channels and theme parks around Stan’s endless list of unreleased IP laden entertainment properties. We are excited that he has allowed us to participate in his next chapter and look forward to strengthening his already guru metal legacy.”
POW!’s first-look deal with Disney company affiliate Silver Creek Pictures expired in December 2014. The affiliation with Camsing is interesting in that 2014 marked the year that POW! formed Stan Lee Global Entertainment as a joint venture in 2014 with a Hong Kong-based investment firm and product starting flowing for China — including Realm, a superheroine movie starring Li BingBing, and the sci-fi film Arch Alien.
Waiting on word about what this means for Lee’s deal with Digital Domain and whether Camsing just steps into that existing agreement.
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