Saban Capital Opens Hong Kong Office

Saban Capital Group has opened an office in Hong Kong led by Sumeet Jaisinghani. He has relocated from Los Angeles and will work to expand the firm’s investment activities in Asia.

PRESS RELEASE

Saban Capital Group, a leading global media and communications investment firm, today announced the opening of a new office in Hong Kong by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Saban Capital Group (Asia).  The office is led by Sumeet Jaisinghani, who has re-located to Hong Kong from Saban Capital Group’s Los Angeles office, and serves to expand the firm’s investment activities in Asia.

The Hong Kong office is Saban Capital Group’s first office in Asia.  Saban Capital Group began investing in Asia in 2010 and has three existing portfolio investments in the region: Media Nusantara Citra (IDX: MNCN), Indonesia’s largest and only vertically-integrated media company; Celestial Tiger Entertainment, a joint venture with Astro and Lionsgate on pay TV channels and content creation and distribution across Asia; and Taomee (NYSE: TAOM), the largest children’s online entertainment company in China.  Mr. Jaisinghani, who joined Saban Capital Group in 2008, has been involved with all of the firm’s investments in Asia.

Haim Saban, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Saban Capital Group, commented, “Asia is home to some of the world’s most innovative and creative entrepreneurs in media and communications.  We are excited about expanding our investment franchise into Asia and the opening of Saban Capital Group (Asia)’s office in Hong Kong is a strong sign of our commitment to the region.”

Adam Chesnoff, President and Chief Operating Officer of Saban Capital Group, said, “The expansion of our investment practice into Asia represents a strategic priority for Saban Capital Group.  Our presence in Hong Kong provides us with a regional connection to the many exciting investment opportunities in media and communications in Asia while supporting our existing investments in the region.  Our approach of partnering with strong entrepreneurs and management teams, and contributing our expertise, relationships and capital to help them achieve their global growth objectives, is a unique proposition in these dynamic markets.”

Sumeet Jaisinghani, Director, Saban Capital Group (Asia), said, “As a highly specialized, and long-term, investor with a flexible mandate and a long track record, we believe we are an ideal partner for entrepreneurs and companies in Asia.  Our investment profile in Asia includes the spectrum of growth equity, active minority investments, recapitalizations and co-control situations.  We look forward to continuing our work with strong entrepreneurs and operating executives to drive meaningful, long-term value creation.”  In the Hong Kong office, Mr. Jaisinghani will be overseeing an investment team dedicated to transaction sourcing and execution.

Saban Capital Group was established in 2001 by Haim Saban and its private equity investments outside of Asia have included: Univision Communications, the largest Hispanic media company in the United States; Bezeq Telecommunications (TASE: BEZQ), the incumbent telecom operator in Israel; and ProSiebenSat.1 (FSE: PSM), the largest television broadcast company in Germany.