Abu Dhabi-backed venture buys UK TV production giant 

Bang Showbiz via Reuters

• RedBird IMI to pay $1.45bn
• All3Media makes The Traitors and Gogglebox
• Sold for $550m in 20124

RedBird IMI, partly owned by Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments, is buying Britain’s largest independent television producer All3Media in a deal worth £1.15 billion ($1.45 billion).

A joint venture between International Media Investments and New York private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, RedBird IMI is also currently bidding for the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper

All3Media has 50 production labels and produces popular global shows such as The Traitors, Midsomer Murders, Call the Midwife and Gogglebox. It was acquired by Warner Bros and Liberty Global in 2014 for $550 million.

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“All3Media is one of the world’s great content companies and this gives us an incredible platform to continue to grow our expanding portfolio,” Jeff Zucker, CEO of RedBird IMI, said in a statement.

Zucker will become the chairman of the All3Media board. 

All3Media group’s companies are based in London but have a presence across the UK and the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and New Zealand. It produces content for traditional broadcasters, video on demand, social media and other digital platforms. 

It has a distribution catalogue of more than 30,000 hours, while the group’s digital business, Little Dot Studios, provides for audiences in social video, podcast and branded content across multiple platforms.

RedBird IMI was launched just over a year ago, with the goal of building a global media company across news, entertainment and sports. 

The acquisition of All3Media is its fifth investment and its largest to date.

The previous investments were the scripted production company Media Res, the unscripted production company EverWonder Studios, the children’s entertainment company Hidden Pigeon Company and the digital outlet Front Office Sports.

RedBird IMI’s bid for the Daily Telegraph has been referred to the UK’s media regulator.