Wilbur Smith IP Rights up for sale - ACF Investment Bank have been hired to handle the sale process
LONDON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The market is buzzing with excitement over this once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire, Wilbur Smith's IP Rights, one of the world's bestselling authors in the adventure and historical fiction genre known for his action-packed storylines and vivid depictions of Africa and its history. He has published over 50 novels, has sold 140 million copies (more than Ian Fleming) and generated sales in excess of £1.6bn worldwide.
The Wilbur Smith Estate (Leopard Rock Studios) has hired ACF Investment Bank ("ACF") the global media and entertainment investment bank, and brokers of The Saul Zaentz company in the sale of "The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Intellectual Property to Embracer Group, to handle the sale process which kick-started this week. They have already started contacting the logical international buyers and expect a strong response to this huge library of IP.
Wilbur Smith's multiple books are a great source of IP content and has significant financial potential to be adapted into multiple Hollywood blockbuster movies, long running TV shows, and popular children's animations. Wilbur Smith's early foray from page to screen in the 1990's demonstrates the viewer appetite. Films included Wild Justice, Shout at the Devil, Gold, and award-winning Dark of the Sun. These compare with other authors of the same genre for example, Ian Fleming's OO7, Roald Dahl's Matilda, James Patterson's Alex Cross, Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne, and JK Rowling's Harry Potter.
What's for sale? All non-literary Media Rights including Television, Film, Theme Parks, Theatrical, Gaming, and Merchandise.
Who should acquire this IP? This rich treasure trove of IP is an ideal opportunity for any of the big international studios, production groups, or streamers with creative horsepower, that want to re-imagine and exploit proprietary content and maximise the diversity of the IP through multiple scripted television series, feature films, video games, merchandising, immersive experiences, and advertising revenue.
"Wilbur Smith is a classic example of a prime library of rich IP that has a massive global following (over 1 million books a year). This could position an ambitious buyer with two decades of developed storytelling and Intellectual Property."
Thomas Dey, Chief Executive Officer, ACF Investment Bank
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