Permira exits All3Media in £550m trade sale

TV programmer Discovery Communications and cable company Liberty Global will form a 50:50 joint venture to buy the asset. Each corporate will invest around £90m in cash, with the remainder of the acquisition being funded by debt. The transaction is expected to complete in Q3 this year.

All3Media will keep operating as an independent business with its own brand and management team, the buyers stated.

Permira backed the secondary management buyout of All3Media in 2006; the deal valued the business at £320m, including debt. Permira took a majority stake at the time, with management holding the balance. Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Scotland provided a debt package to finance the deal. The company was acquired through a competitive auction process run by UBS, which was appointed by vendor Bridgepoint. The GP had originally bought the business, then Chrysalis TV, for an overall £51m in 2003.

Since Permira's 2006 investment, All3Media has seen its turnover double from an initial £255m to £505m in the most recent financial year.

The deal with Discovery and Liberty stands out as the second largest trade sale to take place in the UK so far this year behind the €2bn Avincis deal, according to unquote" data.

Permira has mostly been relying on IPOs for divestments in recent weeks, with eDreams – a portfolio company jointly held with Ardian – listing with a €1.1bn market cap in early April. The GP is also one of the shareholders in Saga, the UK over-50s insurance group that has just announced plans to raise around £550m in its IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

Company
All3Media is a UK-based television, film and digital production and distribution company. The group comprises 19 subsidiaries based in the UK, Europe, the US and New Zealand and has worked on shows including Skins and Midsomer Murders.

Founded in 2003 via the management buyout of Chrysalis TV, All3Media generates a £505m turnover and an EBITDA in the region of £65m.

People
Derek Elliot and Robin Bell-Jones had led the 2006 deal for Permira. Steve Morrison is the chairman and co-founder of All3Media; Farah Ramzan Golant is the CEO of the business.

Advisers
Acquirers – JP Morgan (M&A); Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Legal); DLA Piper (Legal).
Company – Centerview Partners (M&A); Clifford Chance (Legal).
Management – Shearman & Sterling (Legal).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• UK / Ireland
• Exits
• Media
• Permira
• Trade sale
• United Kingdom