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BFD Expert Voices - Media Deals

BFD Expert Voices

PE's Hollywood play

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Music-backed raise

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Deal flow

Movin' on up (or out)

Channel surfing

an illustration of a poster that has a remote control in front of a sunset and says "channel surfing" on a dorm room wall

Carlyle Group is taking a minority stake in Entertainment 360, a Hollywood production and talent management firm.

Why it matters: This is the first time that the firm has taken on outside investment in its 22-year history.

Zoom in: The size of the stake was not disclosed.

Entertainment 360's current board and leadership will remain intact.

The firm is best known for producing HBO's mega-hit "Game of Thrones," and its client list has included Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig. 

The big picture: Private equity continues to be enamored by Hollywood's talent representation, which is viewed as one of the least risky investments in the industry. 

It doesn't hurt that TPG showed just how lucrative the space can be in 2023 when it sold off its majority stake in CAA — one of the industry's "Big 3" firms — to French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault in a $7 billion deal. 

TPG has since acquired management firms Untitled Entertainment and Grandview as part of a new investment vehicle.

Crestview Partners owns a significant minority stake in Gersh. 

EQT Partners has held a large minority stake in United Talent Agency since 2022. 

1 big thing: PE's Hollywood play

Influence Media Partners, a BlackRock-backed music and entertainment investment firm, has raised $360 million in debt financing backed by its catalog of music assets.

Why it's the BFD: Music rights firms are increasingly using future royalties from their song catalogs to raise more funds. 

Zoom in: The transaction was led by Goldman Sachs and Truist Securities, which acted as co-structuring and joint placement agents, as well as BlackRock as a joint placement agent.

Other investors that participated included Nuveen, PPM America, Aflac, Pacific Life and HPS Investment Partners.

In 2022, Influence raised $750 million from BlackRock and Warner Music Group to buy song catalogs.

Influence's catalog includes Future, Enrique Iglesias and Blake Shelton.

Catch up quick: More than $3 billion was raised last year by music firms via asset-backed securitization. 

Blackstone's Hipgnosis raised $1.47 billion last November.

In October, Concord closed an $850 million transaction, its third securitization offering.

Duetti, a firm focused on the indie space, raised $114 million; $80 million of that funding came via an asset-backed securitization transaction.

Earlier last year, both Kobalt ($266 million) and HarbourView Equity Partners ($500 million) raised funds this way.

2. The BFD: Music-backed raise

Go deeper in our full database in the Axios Pro Deals Tracker.

• Qsic, a Dallas-based in-store audio company, raised $25m in Series B funding led by Hedosophia. Go deeper

• Oumi, an open-source AI startup, raised $10m in seed funding co-led by Venrock and Obvious Ventures. Go deeper

• 3 Arts Entertainment, a film production and talent management company known for producing the U.S. version of "The Office," is seeking to raise upwards of $250m in minority funding, per Bloomberg. Go deeper

• Polish billionaire Michal Solowow has bid an undisclosed amount for TVN SA, the Polish TV unit from Warner Bros. Discovery, per Bloomberg. Go deeper

3. Deal flow

• Hiroki Totoki, COO of Sony Group, will become CEO in April. Go deeper

• Jon Hoffman joined The Chernin Group as a partner in charge of investor relations and capital formation. He previously was with Rhône Group. Go deeper

• Andrew Gumpert, former Paramount Pictures CEO, is joining Artists Equity as president, business affairs and strategy. Dillon West is also being promoted to COO, replacing Michael Joe. Go deeper

• Bryan Seabury, a longtime CBS Studios executive, has been promoted to EVP, head of content strategy. Go deeper

• Michael Azzolino and Nne Ebong were both promoted at Netflix — Azzolino to VP, scripted drama series development and Ebong to VP, studio scripted series. Go deeper

• David Field stepped down as CEO of Audacy. Go deeper

• Alison Smith, EVP, chief distribution and publisher relations officer for music rights management firm BMI, will retire at the end of March. Go deeper

4. Movin' on up (or out)

🥊 Major Penn Entertainment shareholder launches proxy fight (WSJ)

"HG Vora, which isn't typically an activist firm, believes Penn has a poor record of capital allocation, including what it views as failed acquisitions," Lauren Thomas writes.

🙁 Sundance made Park City the It Town. Not anymore. (NYT)

"The organizers have said, essentially, that the event has gotten too big for Park City. When Sundance arrives every January, it balloons the ski town of 8,200 full-time residents into a snowy circus, with over 20,000 people streaming in from around the globe," Nicole Sperling writes.

😳 European film industry heavyweights call for regulation of tech giants in Trump era (THR)

"Many in Europe see a new threat from digital platforms being weaponized to undermine or destabilize their democratic systems. Musk has been vocal in his support of far-right groups in the U.K. and Germany and tweeting against government politicians," Scott Roxborough writes.

5. Channel surfing

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January 30, 2025

1 big thing: PE's Hollywood play