Eros International

May 24, 2023

In 2012, Simonds founded an independent production company called STX Entertainment, with investments that came from the likes of the TPG Growth fund, the billionaire and producer Gigi Pritzker, and the Chinese investment fund Hony Capital, which is controlled by the holding company Legend Holdings, the parent company of Lenovo. In 2016, STX added additional investors, including the Chinese technology giant Tencent and the Hong Kong telecom company PCCW. In 2019, TPG and Hony led another funding round in STX, totaling $700 million. STX planned to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018 at a value of $3.5 billion, but in the end these plans did not come to fruition. As a production company, STX focused on low-budget films (in Hollywood terms). The cost of most of its productions ranges from $5 million to $20 million per film, almost always in co-production with other parties. These films usually generated box office revenues of several tens of millions of dollars, but a significant number of films also brought in less than $10 million, with ticket sales not covering production costs. In April 2020, against the background of STX's lukewarm success at best, Simonds worked to merge with the Indian production company Eros International. A year earlier, a press release raised suspicions of financial irregularities in Eros, for example $153 million that was transferred to a production company whose address is registered in a slum in Mumbai and which was headed by the brother-in-law of the CEO of Eros. The union between STX and Eros did not last long, and last year the investment company Najafi Companies of the American billionaire of Iranian origin Jahm Najafi, purchased STX from Eros in a deal worth $173 million that gave it 85% of the shares of the split company (Eros owns the remaining 15%) - a significantly lower amount than the many funds invested in the company in previous years and which represents a significant business failure. As far as is known, even after all the incarnations that STX went through, Simonds continues to be involved in its activities and he currently serves as the company's chairman. In addition to his activities in the field of entertainment, Simonds served as a director in several other entities. Simonds' family owns water rights in Arizona, and he served from 2004 to 2006 on the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the world's largest water wholesaler, where he represented the city of Los Angeles. In 2010, Simonds was appointed director of Heckmann Corporation, a public corporation that created and built companies and ventures in the field of transporting and handling liquids and other materials. In 2013, the corporation changed its name to Nuverra Environmental Solutions, and last year the company was acquired by Select Energy Services in a deal worth $45 million. As of today, Simonds no longer serves as a director. Simonds also served on the board of the Yale School of Management and the California Chamber of Commerce, was a member of the advisory board of the Center for Global Risk and Security of the major research institute RAND Corporation, and one of the governors of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Simonds was also involved in a #metoo mini-scandal. In January 2018, it was reported that the president of STX, Sophie Watts, left the company after she complained of harassment by Simonds, who was the CEO at the time. Two sources with knowledge of the matter described the behavior of Simonds, a married father of five, towards Watts as "obsessive." STX said in response that the report was "inaccurate in many aspects." Simmonds could not be reached for comment. NSO did not respond to the report. TAGS