Zucker launches media investment vehicle JV
December 14, 2022
By Colin Mann
Former CNN CEO Jeff Zucker, RedBird Capital Partners and International Media Investments (IMI) have partnered to create RedBird IMI, a joint venture investment vehicle focused on acquiring and investing in large scale media, entertainment and sports content properties on a global basis. RedBird IMI launches with initial committed capital of $1 billion (€931m).
Zucker is the Chief Executive Officer of RedBird IMI, and he has also joined RedBird as an Operating Partner. Zucker brings more than three decades of leadership experience across news, sports, entertainment and digital innovation to the new venture.
Zucker was the CEO of CNN from 2013 to 2022, leading a transformative turnaround of the global brand. He also was the President of Turner Sports from 2019 to 2022. Prior to that, he spent 25 years at NBC Universal, where he served as the CEO from 2007 to 2011. In 2007, he co-founded the online streaming service Hulu.
“I’ve spent 35 years running media businesses at the intersection of news, sports and entertainment, creating new brands and resurrecting old ones,” commented Zucker. “That experience has given me unparalleled perspective for this unique time in media, and the combination of the RedBird and IMI capital and strategic discipline, combined with my operational experience, will give this joint venture a unique advantage in the current media landscape.”
“The RedBird IMI joint venture has come together at an important time as the media industry continues to evolve in both content creation and distribution to meet the evolving expectations of consumers globally,” added Nart Bouran, CEO of IMI. “Partnering with Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale will enable us to bring tremendous operational, investing and financial expertise to make impactful and transformative investments across the media, entertainment and sports landscapes.”
“We are very pleased to partner with IMI to create a long-term, fully capitalised investment vehicle that can own and operate content-focused businesses across the media spectrum in the US and globally,” said Cardinale, RedBird Founder and Managing Partner. “The skill and experience of the combined team will allow us to identify assets that will benefit from the deployment of success-based capital to further scale or diversify, while also enabling the development of new companies competitively advantaged as market and consumer trends continue to evolve. With Jeff as our CEO, this platform will integrate substantial operating expertise with sophisticated financial and investing acumen to deploy transformational capital on a scaled basis.”