Kevin Hart Expands Hartbeat Media Business With $100 Million Investment From Abry Partners
Cynthia Littleton Business EditorKevin Hart is expanding his busy comedy production empire with the merger of two existing production banners and an influx of $100 million though the sale of a minority stake to private equity firm Abry Partners.With the deal, Hart combines HartBeat Productions and Laugh Out Loud into a single HartBeat banner led by CEO Thai Randolph, who helped raise the capital and had been chief operating officer of both companies. NBCUniversal remains a shareholder after taking an equity stake in Laugh Old Loud in 2020.Hart’s banners have active delivering theatrical movies (“Night School”), documentaries (Showtime’s “The One and Only Dick Gregory”), comedy series (FX’s “Dave”), Netflix titles (“Fatherhood,” “True Story”) and host of digital content for SiriusXM, Peacock, Roku, Peacock, PlutoTV and Vizio, among others.