Hassan Rateb acquires 80% of Sonbol City

CAIRO- 2 October 2017: The owner of Sama Company, the Egyptian businessman Hassan Rateb, has acquired 80 percent of Sonbol City, owned by the Egyptian veteran actor Mohamed Sobhy. Rateb will transform Sonbol City into Sama Sonbol Academy, aimed at discovering talent and creators in various fields of art, such as music, singing, acting, directing and photography. With this approach, the academy will be the second technical entity specialized in this field after the Academy of Arts.

“The academy is expected to make a quantum leap in the field of discovering artistic talents in order to create a new generation of talented people in the areas of acting, directing, photography and writing. That’s why I was reluctant to sign this partnership,’’ Sobhy explained.

Rateb pointed out that the academy is also aiming to maximize the cultural and artistic role of the academy. Sonbol Academy was built on an area of 20 acres and includes rare studios and paintings for senior artists, in addition to a unique theatre that can fit about 500 people.

Rateb added that they are planning to update all the studios to be equipped with the best technological methods, using modern equipment in photography, lighting and visual effects. Rateb also plans to introduce a number of specialists meant to better develop discovered talents.