Abu Dhabi JV RedBird IMI Completes $1.5B Acquisition Of UK-Based TV Production Company All3Media

RedBird IMI has completed the $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) acquisition of the UK-based television production company All3Media from its joint owners, Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Global.

Acquisition details

The deal has been approved by regulators in the US, UK and Germany, marking RedBird IMI’s largest completed transaction to date, according to a statement released Thursday.

Jeff Zucker, the CEO of RedBird IMI, is now the chairman of the All3Media board. The media company’s former CEO Jane Turton and COO Sara Geater will continue to lead All3Media for RedBird IMI. Rani R. Raad, CEO of IMI, will also be joining the board of All3Media following the deal.

The acquisition marks RedBird IMI's fifth completed investment. Others include the Los Angeles-based production company Media Res, EverWonder Studios, a children’s entertainment company called Hidden Pigeon and a digital news outlet called Front Office Sports.

RedBird Advisors acted as financial advisors to RedBird IMI and RedBird Capital Partners for the deal while Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher acted as the legal advisor. JP Morgan was the financial advisor to Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Global for the acquisition, and DLA Piper acted as their legal advisor.

All3Media is the UK’s largest independent production company with over 50 production labels, according to the statement.

Key background

RedBird IMI is a joint venture (JV) between New York-based private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners and a privately-owned investment company headquartered in Abu Dhabi, International Media Investments (IMI). The JV, launched in 2022-end, particularly invests in news, media, entertainment and sports conglomerates.

Big number

RedBird Capital Partners is currently managing approximately $10 billion in assets on behalf of a global group of blue-chip institutional and family office investors.