ViacomCBS to sell iconic Studio Center for $1.85 billion

(Reuters) - ViacomCBS Inc, said on Tuesday it would sell CBS Studio Center, where the iconic sitcom "Seinfeld" was shot, for nearly $1.85 billion, as it looks to raise funds to invest in strategic areas including streaming services.

The company will sell the studio located in the highly competitive Los Angeles studio marketplace to Hackman Capital Partners LLC and Square Mile Capital Management LLC. The more than 1 million square feet property includes 22 stages, a production office and other buildings.

ViacomCBS said in September it was restructuring the operations of Paramount Pictures' movie and television production unit, in a broader shakeup aimed at ramping up content on its cable and streaming services.

The transaction, expected to close this year, comes amid a boom in the studio sector as media companies race to ramp up content production in a streaming-first world.

(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta and Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)