Technicolor, the century-old Hollywood company, is spinning off its creative services, including its Oscar-winning visual effects business. The firm said Thursday that it intends to spinoff 65 percent of its Technicolor Creative Studios and will retain 35 percent ownership for itself.

Technicolor Creative Studios encompasses its visual effects businesses, which includes MPC, which worked on the Oscar-winning 1917 and Oscar-nominated The Lion King remake. Recent work from the studio also includes Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Cruella and West Side Story. Coming up it has Top Gun: Maverick and the live-action Little Mermaid. Technicolor Creative Services also encompasses The Mill, which provides VFX for advertising clients; Mikros Animation; and Technicolor Games.

CEO Richard Moat said the move will help both the spinoff company and Technicolor “be more agile and ultimately thrive as independent businesses.”

Moat added: “After a comprehensive review, we determined that pursuing the partial spin-off of TCS from the Group along with the full refinancing of the existing debt will be the solution that best aligns strategy, value creation and financial objectives for all of Technicolor’s stakeholders.”

During the first half of 2021, the company sold its postproduction business to Streamland Media for $36.5 million, taking the company out of the business in which it was best known. At the time, Moat said the sale was part of a “long-term vision” to focus on visual effects and animation.

In 2020, Technicolor went through a restructuring after filing for bankruptcy.

Technicolor intends to maintain its connected home business, which includes its broadband gateway boxes and set-top boxes, as well as home entertainment services such as DVD mastering and replication. Its trademark licensing division will be sold.

First published in The Hollywood Reporter here.