Westbrook Inc., the entertainment company founded by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, has ended talks to sell to a new media venture backed by Blackstone Group and executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, sources tell Variety.The two parties began discussions in mid-September, Variety previously reported, with the former Walt Disney Co.
honchos looking to scoop up the 2-year-old company behind the streaming series “Red Table Talk” and the forthcoming Oscar contender “King Richard.”The sales talks ceased this week, two individuals familiar with the parties said.
Sources noted it was possible that both sides could reevaluate and return to the table in the future.
It’s unclear what halted the transaction, though one insider noted the difficulty in calculating a valuation for Westbrook — a company in its relative infancy that’s also led by two superstars and has credits including the Netflix hit “Cobra Kai.” A different source
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