Soros wants control of DreamWorks film library

LOS ANGELES - Soros Fund Management, run by billionaire investor George Soros, is in exclusive talks to buy DreamWorks' film library from Paramount Pictures, a source says.

Paramount, owned by Viacom, last month agreed to buy DreamWorks, the movie studio co-founded by director Steven Spielberg, for US$1.6 billion ($2.3 billion) in cash and debt assumption.

At the time, Paramount said it was in "advanced talks" with one or more "financial partners" to sell DreamWorks' 59-title film library for US$850 million to US$1 billion.

The source said the exclusivity period for talks between Soros and Viacom would be long enough to allow the companies to complete a library deal but would not give more details.

Viacom said on January 1 that its acquisition of privately held DreamWorks was on track to close in the first quarter of this year. With the deal, Viacom also gains a lucrative distribution agreement with DreamWorks' publicly traded spin-off, DreamWorks Animation, the maker of the Shrek franchise.

That contract takes effect when the acquisition is completed.

- REUTERS