BLACKWELL GETS $100 MIL FOR PALM GROWTH

Palm Entertainment Properties, parent of Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures, has received $100 million in new funding from Chase Capital Entertainment Partners, Chase Capital Partners, WaterView Partners and computer retailer Ted Waitt of Gateway.

"The financing enables us to acquire some catalogs as they grow available," said Blackwell, who adds that the firm will seek video, film and music publishing properties.

Allen & Co. assisted in arranging the financing, which will be used for acquiring music catalogs, DVD and home video libraries, as well as producing independent, digital film productions.

Blackwell has been aggressive in adding key music components to his company. Palm has signed more than 20 musical artists, including Baby Namboos, Baaba Maal and Sly and Robbie. In August 1998, to gain stable of catalog artists, Palm acquired Rykodisc, a top independent record label and music distribution company, for $35 million in cash and stock options. With the acquisition, Blackwell helped to secure catalogs of Frank Zappa, Morphine and Bruce Cockburn.

Blackwell founded Palm Pictures in 1998 after he left the board of PolyGram NV in 1997 when he was chairman of Island, the label and film company he founded.

"I am delighted to receive such financial support for Palm as we move ahead as a creative independent in this exciting era of digital development and ingenuity," Blackwell said in a statement. "The quality of our investors is a testament to the strength of the Palm ideology."