Two of the biggest names in private credit have become owners of a Hollywood production infrastructure business. BlackRock’s HPS Investment Partners and Brookfield’s Oaktree Capital Management, acting as part of a creditor group, have taken control of MBS Group through a debt-for-equity restructuring that eliminated up to $900 million in debt.

The transaction also includes a new $40 million capital infusion intended to stabilize MBS and support future growth. Former owners Hackman Capital Partners and Affinius Capital have been removed from their positions entirely.

From creditors to owners

MBS Group provides production equipment and studio infrastructure to the entertainment industry and serves clients across more than 600 sound stages worldwide, including facilities such as Silvercup Studios and Television City.

Hackman Capital acquired MBS for $650 million from Carlyle in 2019, during a period of heavy content spending fueled by the streaming wars.

That trend reversed in 2022, when major studios began cutting back from the aggressive spending that had defined the peak of the streaming boom.

For HPS, the deal comes during a period of rapid expansion. BlackRock acquired HPS in a $12 billion all-equity transaction, bringing one of the largest independent private credit platforms into the world’s largest asset manager.

Hollywood’s supply chain under pressure

The post-2022 downturn was especially severe because it overlapped with the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes, which brought U.S. production to a near standstill for months. Even after the strikes ended, spending did not quickly recover. Studios had adjusted to leaner operations, and the economics of streaming proved far less forgiving than they had seemed during the boom.

MBS, carrying a capital structure built for peak demand, was unable to service its debt load. A business that had been acquired for $650 million only a few years earlier required its creditors to absorb losses on the face value of their loans in exchange for ownership.

Private credit’s expanding footprint

The $40 million in fresh capital from the creditor group is designated to stabilize the business and fund growth, rather than repay other obligations or wind the company down. For Hollywood’s production infrastructure sector, the change in ownership highlights how lenders are becoming more directly involved in businesses tied to entertainment spending cycles, especially where demand depends on studio output and financing assumptions set during the streaming boom.