Gary Neville has sold a majority stake in one of his companies ahead of an IPO which could value it at over £200m.
The former Manchester United and England footballer has sold the controlling stake in production company Buzz16 to Miroma Group. Miroma first invested in Buzz16 in 2021, but has now become the majority shareholder.
Buzz16, which Neville co-founded in 2016, produces live sport, documentaries, podcasts and branded content for clients including Warner Bros, Discovery, Sky Bet, Eurosport, Amazon Prime, Sky Sports, the Premier League and BT Sport.
It’s most successful properties include Gary Neville’s Soccerbox for Sky Sports, which is also widely available to stream, and The Overlap YouTube sports channel, which has ammassed over half a million subscribers since it launched in 2021.
Neville said: “This is great news for Buzz16 and it is fantastic to be able to work with Miroma Group. To utilise and tap into their experience and knowledge can only help us to develop and grow even further. Exciting times.”
Neville’s co-founder Scott Melvin added: “Buzz has been on a fantastic journey so far, whether it’s working on producing content for our wonderful client roster or creating The Overlap which has gone from strength to strength, but there’s so much more we can do, and this majority acquisition by Miroma Group is going to help us do it.”
Neville remains a “large shareholder” following the deal, and is “closely involved” with the business’ growth strategy moving forward.
