Tom Gores’ Platinum Equity Buys Deluxe Entertainment Distribution Business

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Tom Gores’ Platinum Equity has acquired the distribution business of Deluxe Entertainment Services.

Financial terms were not disclosed. Deluxe Entertainment’s creative businesses are not included in the acquisition.

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Billionare Gores, owner of the Detroit Pistons, was most recently seen helping his brother, Paradigm chief Sam Gores weather a tough economy by taking an owership interest in the agency through another investment company, Crescent Drive Media. The moved shored up finances at the company hard hit by the coronavirus crisis.

Former Deluxe CEO Cyril Drabinsky, who left the company in 2016 to found CineVizion, is returning to lead the business again. As part of the transition, CineVizion’s assets will be integrated into Deluxe.

“The entertainment industry, like many others, has been seriously disrupted by the coronavirus crisis,” said Gores, chairman-CEO of Platinum, in a statement. “It will take both experience and tenacity to make it through to the other side, but we are confident that good companies with strong fundamentals and capable leadership will not only survive this crisis, but thrive.”

“Deluxe has been a cornerstone of the entertainment industry for more than 100 years,” Gores added. “The company drove the evolution of digital cinema distribution and has continued to reinvent itself in partnership with content creators around the world. At this pivotal time for the industry, Cyril’s leadership, combined with Platinum’s financial resources and operational expertise, will help the company move forward stronger than ever. This is the first of several things to come in this space.”

Drabinsky was an executive at Deluxe for nearly 20 years and led the company’s transformation from an analog film processing business into a leading digital post-production technology and distribution service provider.

The concurrent acquisitions of the Deluxe distribution business and CineVision were led by David Eisman and Glen Mastroberte of law firm Skadden Arps.

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