RedBird IMI strikes $1.45 bln deal for UK's All3Media (updated)

Liberty Global

16/02/2024 13:27

(Adds details in paragraph 2, 7; executive comment in paragraph
6)
       Feb 16 (Reuters) - Jeff Zucker-led investment group
RedBird IMI has struck a 1.15 billion pound ($1.45 billion) deal
to buy Britain's All3Media, the production house behind hit TV
shows "Fleabag" and "Squid Game: The Challenge", RedBird IMI
said on Friday.   
    All3Media, whose film and TV production companies are based
in Britain, the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium
and New Zealand, has been jointly owned by Warner Bros Discovery
 WBD.O  and Liberty Global  LBTYA.O  since 2014. The companies
bought the firm for 550 million pounds. 
    RedBird IMI, launched just over a year ago, is led by former
CNN executive Zucker and backed by Emirati royal Mansour bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, who also owns soccer club Manchester City. 
    The group, which has been on an investment spree in recent
months, agreed to buy Britain's Telegraph newspaper and
Spectator magazine late last year in a deal currently under
regulatory review. 
    The All3Media deal is its fifth acquisition and the largest
so far, RedBird IMI said.
    Zucker, CEO of RedBird IMI, will become chair of the
All3Media board, while CEO Jane Turton and Chief Operating
Officer Sara Geater will continue to lead the company. 
    "Acquiring All3 is an extension of our investment thesis
around pure play global content creators and owners of
intellectual property," said Gerry Cardinale, founder and
managing partner of RedBird IMI.
    The acquisition comes at a time when broadcasters are
cutting their spending on new shows amid a slump in advertising
revenues and the lingering effects of the Hollywood writers' and
actors' strikes from last year. 
    All3Media made about 1.02 billion pounds in revenues for
2022.  
    The deal was first reported by the Financial Times. 
    ($1 = 0.7951 pounds)

 (Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru
Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Mark Potter)
 ((Eva.Mathews@thomsonreuters.com;))