Actress Reese Witherspoon (pictured) is to sell a majority stake in her media business Hello Sunshine to a media group backed by private equity behemoth Blackstone.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the acquisition values Hello Sunshine at c. $900m.

Hello Sunshine was founded in 2016 with a specific focus on the promotion of content by and for women and possesses the rights to shows such as HBO’s ‘Big Little Lies’ and Apple TV’s ‘The Morning Show’.

Blackstone will spend $500m in cash acquiring the shares from current investors such as AT&T and Emerson Collective, with Witherspoon and some other Hello Sunshine executives rolling over the remaining equity into ownership stakes in the new entity arising from the deal.

According to media reports the deal was spearheaded by former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, who head the media venture backed by Blackstone. The new company will continue to be known as Hello Sunshine.

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The acquisition comes amidst a scramble in Hollywood by streaming services to create and purchase premium film and TV content.

The executives behind the deal believe that Hello Sunshine will have the competitive advantage of being able to license its content to any studio, network or streaming service, whereas other companies like Disney and Netflix have to keep their content in house.

The separation of production and streaming should also avoid the conflicts of interest that pit studio executives against writers and actors. For instance, actress Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney for releasing Black Widow simultaneously in cinemas and on its Disney+ streaming service.

Hello Sunshine also owns Reese's Book Club, which curates titles and holds events for members. Analysts believe that the relationships with authors nurtured by the book club will give the company an advantage when bidding for the rights to turn books into films.