Shari Redstone Makes Huge Profit By Selling Russian Theaters For $190 Million

Shari Redstone, the 54 year old daughter of  billionaire media mogul Sumner Redstone, is a  successful wheeler-dealer in her own right.  She and two partners just sold 6 movie theaters in Russia, purchased only two years ago, for $190 million  and  an undisclosed large profit to Cinema Park, Russia’s largest theater chain. Ms. Redstone will personally share in the proceeds, though  the amount is not known.

These theaters were purchased in 2009 from National Amusements, a company in Norwood, Massachusetts  that owns  77  other theaters in the US and abroad, mainly in South America and the UK. Ms. Redstone  was then and still is the President of National Amusements, the privately held holding company which also controls  voting control of Viacom and CBS,  two giant publicly owned media and entertainment  companies. Ms. Redstone personally owns 20% of National Amusements; her father, the chairman and founder of National Amusements  owns the other 80%.

Ms. Redstone recently told a Credit Suisse conference on media and entertainment that National Amusements controlled  77  theaters, 34 in the US and 43 in South America and Great Britain, which alltold   had 960 screens that placed it in the top 10 movie theater chains.  Ms. Redstone claimed the chain was enjoying  solid business and stable cash flow. She  is currently embarked on expanding the chain in Brazil, where she expects better tr han average growth in movie-goers.

She also presented world-wide box office figures that showed revenues for all movie theaters globally were $32 billion– up $9 billion since 2005– and an increase of 8% since 2009.

The sale of the 6 Russian theaters to Rising Star Media, Ms. Redstone’s Russian theater company, was the result of  the need to raise money to pay off debt that came due at National Amusements from Sumner Redstone’s  borrowing funds to purchase a large position in a Chicago electronic games company, which turned sour.

Ms. Redstone also is a director and vice chairperson of both Viacom and CBS.  Her father, 88 years old Sumner Redstone is the  Chairman of both Viacom and CBS. Though  father and daughter have been at loggerheads in the past, , a source close to the sale of the Russian theaters, says  “everything is fine in their relationship today.”

Indeed, Forbes has been assured that Ms. Redstone will succeed her father as chairman of National Amusements, Viacom and CBS, once he has passed on. However,  it is believed that Ms. Redstone will not hold the title of Executive Chairman of either Viacom or CBS, simply Chairman.