UK indie Coolabi, which produces Nickelodeon’s animated preschool series Poppy Cat, has announced a $7.7 million management buyout by shareholder Edge Performance. Edge, a leading specialist fund in the entertainment and media sector, partnered with Coolabi’s chief exec Jeremy Banks, and the rest of the Coolabi management team, to effect the buy-out and take the company private.
Coolabi will de-list from London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and will have access to additional funds to invest in support of its current portfolio of brands, develop new properties and grow the business through acquisitions. The board will comprise Jeremy Banks as chief executive, Gordon Power as chairman, Tim Ricketts as finance director and William Harris as non-exec director. Coolabi’s management team will remain in place with Michael Dee as director of content, Zoe Scurfield as head of development and production and Natasha Dyson as head of licensing.
“We are thrilled to be embarking on a new chapter in our long-standing, successful relationship with the team at Edge,” says Jeremy Banks. “We are, perhaps, in a unique position amongst small independent media companies in the UK of having significant funds available to both develop original content and acquire some of the exciting intellectual property assets and businesses that will undoubtedly become available in the next few years.”
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