A supplier of production equipment to film studios, including Netflix;

and Warner Bros Discovery, has been seized by creditors after defaulting on its debt, highlighting the financial strain in the entertainment sector. BlackRock’s private‑credit arm, HPS Investment Partners, and distressed‑debt specialist Oaktree Capital are among a group of lenders that last week took control of MBS Group.

The company supplies lighting rigs and other gear to over 600 sound stages, such as New York’s Silvercup Studios and Los Angeles’ Television City. Its debt burden, coupled with studios cutting production budgets after the 2022 streaming bubble burst, has pushed it toward default.

Hackman Capital Partners and Affinius Capital, the previous owners, exited during the sale, which followed a 2019 purchase of $650mn from Carlyle. Hackman had integrated the business with sound‑stage assets it owned, but Hollywood activity has since quietened.

Creditors will convert hundreds of millions of dollars of debt into equity, and plan to inject an additional $40mn to stabilize the company. The move follows Fitch Ratings’ warning that private‑credit defaults hit a record 6 percent last year, a peak not seen since the agency began tracking the metric.