Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have finalized a deal to sell a minority stake of their company Westbrook Inc to a new media venture headed by former Disney executives Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer, Deadline reports.
According to sources close to the transaction, Staggs and Mayer’s invested $60 million for a 10% ownership stake. Under the terms of the deal, Westbrook is valued at just below $600 million.
In a joint statement, Mayer and Staggs called Westbrook “a home for world-class creators that is built for the digital age—which fully aligns with our company’s vision for the future of media. We are excited for what we can all achieve together with Blackstone in the years ahead.”
The Smiths formed Westbrook in 2019, along with partners Miguel Melendez and Ko Yada. The company encompassed Overbrook Entertainment, the production outfit named after a neighborhood in Smith’s hometown of Philadelphia. Smith and James Lassiter founded Overbrook in 1998. The company produced blockbusters like I Am Legend, Hitch, and Hancock.
Recently, Westbrook has produced content such as Pinkett Smith’s popular show Red Table Talk on Facebook Watch, the critically-acclaimed King Richard, the Netflix hit Cobra Kai which has been renewed for a fifth season, as well as Welcome to Earth, a National Geographic series that premiered on Disney Plus.
Westbrook Inc. is comprised of a production studio, Westbrook Studios, and a digital arm, Westbrook Media. Upcoming productions include a Netflix docuseries about the Fourteenth Amendment entitled Amend: The Fight For America, and Emancipation, an action-thriller about a runaway slave starring Smith to air on Apple TV Plus. Also, the company is producing the “Fresh Prince” reboot Bel-Air that will premiere next month on Peacock.
