The former President of CNN will become the Chairman of All3Media, after RedBird IMI completed the £1.15bn acquisition of the global production group.
RedBird IMI bought the company from its joint owners, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. and Liberty Global. The £1.15bn deal is RedBird IMI’s largest transaction to date and has now been approved by regulators in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.
All3Media is the UK’s largest indie, owning 50 labels including Liverpool’s Lime Pictures, Studio Lambert, Raw, Two Brothers and Neal Street Productions, making 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.
It produces 4000 hours of content for broadcasters and streamers around the world every year and also has a distribution catalogue of 30,000 hours. Its digital business, Little Dot Studios, focuses on social video, podcast and branded content.
While its RedBird IMI’s CEO, Zucker, will join the board, the company will still be led by CEO Jane Turton and COO Sara Geater.
RedBird IMI launched just over a year ago and this is its 5th acquisition, following Los Angeles-based scripted production company Media Res; unscripted production company EverWonder Studios; children’s entertainment company Hidden Pigeon Company; and digital news outlet Front Office Sports.
It’s a joint venture between RedBird Capital Partners, a New York based private-equity firm founded and led by Gerry Cardinale, and International Media Investments (IMI), a global media company based in Abu Dhabi.
