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Puck, the five-year-old media upstart, has a new owner: RedBird Capital Partners, the investment firm that is a backer of other media companies including Paramount Skydance’s merger bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
RedBird
is led by managing partner Gerry Cardinale (pictured above), who sits on the board of Paramount as a director. RedBird and Puck signed an agreement for the investment, and the deal is expected to close in about a month, pending regulatory approval.
RedBird’s official deal to take over Puck was announced Thursday by Puck CEO Sarah Personette and Jon Kelly, co-founder and editor in chief, in a memo to staff that was obtained by Variety.
For Puck, the ownership by RedBird presents obvious some conflicts; for one thing, the media newsletter publisher has been routinely covering Paramount (and CBS News) as well as its pursuit of Warner Bros. Personette and Kelly maintained that the deal “does not change our editorial independence, our differentiated business model, or the things that make Puck, Puck.”
With RedBird’s acquisition of a majority stake, Standard Investments and TPG are exiting their positions in Puck. RIT Capital will remain a minority investor alongside RedBird.
“With RedBird, we can take what has worked at Puck and continue to build an even more ambitious company,” the execs wrote.
RedBird says it has investments in 50-plus companies, representing over $82 billion in enterprise value. In addition to its stake in Paramount Skydance, the firm has invested in Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity, Ari Emanuel’s Mari global events and experiences company and the Fenway Sports Group (which owns the Boston Red Sox and other sports teams and businesses).
In addition, Redbird is a partner in RedBird IMI, the sports and media-focused investment vehicle led by ex-CNN boss Jeff Zucker, together with Abu Dhabi-based International Media Investments (IMI).
Read the full memo from Personette and Kelly:
Hi team,
We are thrilled to share that RedBird will become Puck’s lead investor at an approximately $250 million valuation. We look forward to discussing this news in more detail at our All Hands tomorrow at 4pm EST (zoom to follow) but we wanted to share a little information here to start.
Most importantly, we want to acknowledge all of you. Over the last almost five years, this team has built something incredibly special. You have broken news, consistently gotten the inside story before anyone else, helped build an entirely new model for a media company, and most recently brought Puck and Airmail together as one company.
This transaction simply would not be possible without the extraordinary work, commitment, and creativity of this entire team!
We are also incredibly grateful to the investors who believed in Puck and helped us get here. They believed in our model and have been terrific partners along the way. Standard Investments and TPG, who have been supporting us since our inception, will be exiting after our more than five-year partnership, and RIT Capital will remain a minority investor alongside RedBird.
We are excited to have RedBird as our partner for this next stage. Since joining our cap table following the Air Mail acquisition last fall, and throughout this entire process, they have demonstrated a real appreciation for what we have built, the people who built it and what makes Puck different. They also bring tremendous experience investing in media, sports, and entertainment and building businesses around premium talent, brands, and intellectual property.
One thing we want to reiterate from our last All Hands, this is about accelerating our strategy, not changing it. RedBird is investing in Puck because they believe in the company we have built and where we are going. This gives us more resources to move faster at:
· Continuing to invest in Puck and Air Mail
· Bringing more great talent into the company
· Entering new markets
· Pursuing acquisitions
· Expanding our IP into new formats and channels
It does not change our editorial independence, our differentiated business model, or the things that make Puck, Puck.
We have also spent a tremendous amount of time throughout this process focused on our people. We wanted to make sure you could participate in the value that has been created over the last five years, while continuing to participate in the value we hope to create from here. For employees with vested stock or options, this means a combination of liquidity and continued ownership in the company. With RedBird, we have also created a new equity incentive plan going forward and will share details as those are finalized at closing.
We know there will be a lot of questions about what this means and we will spend time walking through those details both together and individually over the next few weeks.
With RedBird, we can take what has worked at Puck and continue to build an even more ambitious company.
You should feel incredibly proud of what you have built and the role you played in getting us here. Closing will occur in approximately one month subject to the anticipated regulatory approval.
For now, the best thing you can do is focus on finishing the year strong.
Thank you for everything you have done to get Puck to this moment. We could not be more excited about what we get to build together next.
Best,
Jon and Sarah
