A Utah-based production studio, known most recently for the film “Sound of Freedom,” is going public.
Angel Studios announced Wednesday that it will become a publicly traded company under Southport Acquisition Corporation. Southport — a type of shell group of investors that acquires small companies with the aim of making money from initial public offerings — will adopt a new ticker symbol and trade as AGSD on behalf of Angel Studios.
The combined company, they say, is valued at $1.6 billion. According to initial SEC filings, Provo-based Angel Studios earned more than $200 million in revenue last year through guild memberships, theatrical releases, content licensing and merchandise sales. Revenues from the first six months of 2024 were up $6 million compared to the same period last year, the company said in a news release.
Angel Studios’ theatrical film, “Sound of Freedom,” was released in July 2023 and earned $250 million at the box office, according to movie revenue tracking website Box Office Mojo. The film is loosely based on Tim Ballard’s origin story leading to his creation of the anti-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad.
Since the film’s release, Ballard has been accused of rape and sexual assault by multiple women, and OUR is named as a defendant in those lawsuits. OUR’s board has been overhauled — five new members were added to the board this week — and the group is now called OUR Rescue.
Angel Studios is named as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit filed by Kely Suarez, who said a character in the movie that kidnapped and sold children into slavery was a depiction of her and defamatory because she had not been convicted of child trafficking.
However, last week, Suarez was convicted of pimping a minor under the age of 14 years and could face nearly two decades in prison.