Kevin Hart sold a $100 million stake in his media company to private equity firm Abry. Here are 10 Hollywood more production shops that are hot M&A targets.

The streaming wars have led to frenzied dealmaking in Hollywood.

Amazon made an offer for MGM in May of last year. In the year since, several entertainment companies have sold pieces of their business, including Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Joe and Anthony Russo sold a stake in the company. In March, Sony Pictures Television announced it would take a majority stake in Industrial Media, which is known for reality TV hits like 90 Day Fianc. According to the Hollywood Reporter, STX Entertainment was acquired by the Najafi Companies in April.

Abry Partners is taking a $100 million minority stake in Kevin Hart's new media venture, HartBeat, which combines his HartBeat production shingle and digital comedy platform Laugh Out Loud. After leading the fundraise, Thai Randolph became the CEO of the company.

The M&A activity had top Hollywood dealmakers telling Insider that every independent production company is a target.

Private equity firms are leading the pursuit because they see value in investing in content before the streaming service boom ends and demand for original programming begins. Apollo in January took a $760 million stake in the producer of Dune, in a move that is about us making our own intellectual property.

Ryan Baker, founder of Waymaker Law, said that more traditional media companies are trying to pivot, and that periods of disruption foment more M&A activity.

The appetite for production capabilities appears to be very high. The Morning Show, an Apple TV+ drama, was valued at $900 million in its Candle Media deal. A group including RedBird Capital, Nike, and Epic Games invested in SpringHill Co., which earned a $725 million valuation.

'The key is buying franchises.'

Such targets aren't being evaluated as traditional production companies, but rather as intellectual property generators that have the potential to feed the demand for the next project.

Jeffrey Wlodarczak, an entertainment analyst at Pivotal, said that original content is becoming more important and that you want to bring a lot of the production capabilities in house.

Some Hollywood companies are hanging "for-sale" signs because of the deal flow. PJT Partners has been hired by Village Roadshow to seek investment or acquisition offers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sources said that A 24 and Skydance Media are attractive acquisition targets. Having a talent affiliation is important among smaller shops. A production company without a big-name is more like an arms dealer, a top dealmaker said.

Celebrity-fronted businesses have their own risks. The value of the deal will decline if the talent is not interested in expanding beyond filmed entertainment. The business could slip if a star's reputation falls.

Some independent shops do not control the intellectual property they create. Many production companies make work-for-hire or don't control the rights to a project once it is sold off to a studio distributor. Some buyers are willing to pay for access to the next big idea from creators like the Russo brothers, even though their reputation was built largely on The Avengers, said another dealmaker.

Insider identified a list of 10 production companies that could be attractive acquisition targets as M&A activity continues.

10 Hollywood M&A targets with production capabilities and brand recognition

• A24 The company led by CEO David Fenkel and chairman Daniel Katz has long been the subject of acquisition speculation thanks to its lineup of buzzy titles, including Greta Gerwig's "Lady Bird" and best picture Oscar winner "Moonlight." A24 — which also produces TV shows like "Ramy" — has a production deal with Apple and a film licensing agreement with Showtime.   
• Array Ava DuVernay's company produces, markets, and distributes films from women and people of color. Array also is behind DuVernay projects like Netflix series "Colin in Black & White" and has a deal with the streamer to release film projects including 2021 dramedy "Donkeyhead." 
• Bad Robot J.J. Abrams and wife Katie McGrath's 23-year-old shop is behind everything from HBO drama "Westworld" to the next installment of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. Though Bad Robot doesn't own the rights to those titles, Abrams is such an in-demand creative talent that WarnerMedia in 2019 paid a reported $250 million for a five-year film and TV overall deal with him. 
• Blumhouse Jason Blum's shingle has perfected its model of producing horror films on a tight budget, projects that reap big gains when they hit with audiences. Consider 2021's "Halloween Kills," which made more than $131 million at the box office, amid COVID fears and restrictions, on a $20 million budget. A 10-year first-look deal with Universal Pictures that runs through 2024 bodes stability for Blumhouse's film business.
• Chernin Entertainment Peter Chernin's company — which produced NBC's "New Girl" and the rebooted "Planet of the Apes" film series — is said to be exploring strategic options. It has a first-look deal with Netflix, and in 2020 it struck a deal with Spotify to develop its podcasts for film and TV. 
• Imagine Entertainment Previously a target for Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs' Candle Media, the production company co-founded by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer was in talks early this year to sell a stake to London-based Centricus, WSJ reported. Its recent films include "Hillbilly Elegy" and "Tick, Tick…Boom!" for Netflix. 
• Scout Productions The 28-year-old company led by Michael Williams, David Collins and chief creative officer Rob Eric has driven some of the highest-profile LGBTQ+ projects in Hollywood, including "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and its "Queer Eye" reboot on Netflix.
• Seven Bucks Productions Led by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Dany Garcia, Seven Bucks produced "Red Notice" for Netflix and has the upcoming "Black Adam" for Warner Bros. It also makes content for Johnson's YouTube channel, where he has 5.89 million subscribers. 
• Skydance Media David Ellison's production shingle is behind the upcoming "Top Gun: Maverick" and is teaming with regular producing partner Bad Robot on "Mission: Impossible 7" and "Star Trek 4." The company — which has taken investments from RedBird Capital, Korea's CJ ENM, and Tencent — will produce a slate of live-action films for Apple, where it already has an animated film and TV series deal. 
• Village Roadshow The film producer and financier majority owned by private equity firm Vine Alternative Investments is best known for Warner Bros. co-productions including "The Matrix Resurrections" and "Joker." The company, which is led by CEO Steve Mosko, recently has been focused on producing its own original films. 

The article was first published on January 27 and was updated on May 19