Disney sells Miramax to target families

Miramax is to be sold to a group of private investors in a move that ends a 17-year association with Walt Disney and completes a lengthy bidding process.

Miramax has an Oscar-laden film library of more than 700 titles, including films such as My Left Foot, Good Will Hunting and more recently No Country For Old Men.

But Disney is offloading the studio amid an overhaul to focus on its more family-centric film production brands such as Pixar and Marvel.

Disney signed a sale agreement with Filmyard Holding, an investor group led by construction magnate Ronald Tutor.

Other investors include property investment group Colony Capital and its chief executive Tom Barrack.

Disney hopes the deal will be completed as soon as September.

Miramax was founded in 1979. It was sold to Disney for $80m (51.3m) in 1993.