Investment group, RedBird IMI, has acquired All3Media for £1.15bn in its biggest investment to date.
All3Media is the owner of 50 production labels, not least Hollyoaks’ indie, Lime Pictures, as well as Studio Lambert, Raw, Two Brothers and Neal Street Productions.
Its list of shows include The Traitors, Squid Game: The Challenge, Gold Rush, Midsomer Murders, American Nightmare, The Circle, Call the Midwife, The Tourist, Life On Our Planet and Gogglebox.
It is currently owned by Warner Bros Discovery and Liberty Global.
Jeff Zucker, the CEO of RedBird IMI will become chair of the All3Media board, while Jane Turton (CEO) and Sara Geater (COO) will continue to lead the company.
“All3Media is one of the world’ss great content companies, and this gives us an incredible platform to continue to grow our expanding portfolio,” said Zucker, a former CNN executive.
“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.”
Gerry Cardinale, Founder and Managing Partner of RedBird added:
“Acquiring All3 is an extension of our investment thesis around pure play global content creators and owners of intellectual property,” said“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.”
RedBird IMI is a joint venture between RedBird Capital Partners (25%) and International Media Investments (75%). It also owns Skydance Media and Artists Equity and recently agreed to acquire the Telegraph newspaper and Spectator magazine – although this deal is currently with the regulators.
IMI is controller by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan – who owns Manchester City.
“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,” said Jane Turton, the CEO of All3Media.
“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.”
