RedBird IMI recently announced that it has agreed to acquire All3Media, one of the world’s leading independent television production and distribution companies, from its joint owners Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Global for £1.15 billion. RedBird IMI is a joint venture between RedBird Capital Partners and International Media Investments focused on building high-growth media, entertainment, and sports companies.
All3Media (based in London) has 50 production labels, including Studio Lambert, Raw, Two Brothers Pictures, Silverback Films, New Pictures and Neal Street Productions, producing top global shows such as The Traitors, Squid Game: The Challenge, Gold Rush, Midsomer Murders, American Nightmare, The Circle, Call the Midwife, The Tourist, Life On Our Planet, The Long Shadow and Gogglebox. All3Media’s library spans all genres, including contemporary thrillers, detective series, soap operas, comedy, costume drama, and true crime, as well as documentary, features, children’s, and reality programming.
The Group’s companies have a global presence across the UK, US, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and New Zealand and produce 4,000 hours annually for linear broadcasters, VOD, social media, and other digital platforms. Plus, All3Media International operates a distribution catalog of over 30,000 hours, while the Group’s digital business, Little Dot Studios, drives audiences in social video, podcast, and branded content across multiple platforms.
Jeff Zucker, the CEO of RedBird IMI, will become the chairman of the All3Media board. And Jane Turton (CEO) and Sara Geater (COO) will continue to lead the company for RedBird IMI.
RedBird IMI launched just over one year ago to build a global media company across news, entertainment, and sports. And this is the fifth investment for RedBird IMI and its largest to date. Its investments include the scripted production company Media Res, the unscripted production company EverWonder Studios, the children’s entertainment company Hidden Pigeon Company, and the digital outlet Front Office Sports.
RedBird Advisors acted as financial advisor to RedBird IMI and RedBird Capital Partners, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP acted as its legal advisor. And JPMorgan acted as financial advisor to Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Global, and DLA Piper acted as their legal advisor.
KEY QUOTES:
“All3Media is one of the world’s great content companies, and this gives us an incredible platform to continue to grow our expanding portfolio. The demand for new shows and ongoing existing series, both scripted and unscripted, makes All3 a perfect fit for us. And we would not be doing this if not for the tremendous confidence we have in the outstanding All3Media management team led by Jane and Sara.”
- Jeff Zucker, the CEO of RedBird IMI
“Acquiring All3 is an extension of our investment thesis around pure play global content creators and owners of intellectual property. We look forward to partnering with All3’s management team to continue accelerating their growth in Europe and the U.S. and capitalizing on RedBird’s ecosystem in support of that goal.”
- Gerry Cardinale, Founder and Managing Partner of RedBird
“Joining forces with Jeff and the RedBird IMI team is an exciting next step for us as we continue to build All3Media. Our strategy remains to work with the world’s best talent, developing and producing high quality, popular programmes and RedBird IMI’s support and investment will be key in helping us deliver this. I am very proud of all that we have built over the past few years, and I am looking forward to working with the RedBird IMI team as we take this important next step.”
- Jane Turton, the CEO of All3Media
“All3Media has gone from strength to strength during our period of joint ownership with WBD, both financially and creatively. We look forward to seeing the company continue to prosper, led by Jane and the team, as part of RedBird IMI. The sale continues our strategy of recycling capital in our ventures portfolio.”
- Andrea Salvato, Chief Development Officer, Liberty Global
“We are incredibly proud of what All3Media, Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Global have built together over the past decade, and given RedBird IMI’s strong commitment to creative excellence, we are confident they are best suited to shepherd this world-class production studio into its next phase and can’t wait to see all that’s ahead.”
- Bruce Campbell, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer
