Since leaving CNN a year ago, Jeff Zucker, the network’s former president, has been chasing deals equal to $1 billion in backing from major investors in the worlds of media and finance.
RedBird Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and International Media Investments, a financier with ties to the government of the United Arab Emirates, are betting that Mr. Zucker’s track record in the media industry will help him identify promising digital investments. do media , sports, entertainment and news.
Besides Mr. Zucker, key players in the new venture, known as RedBird IMI, are Gerry Cardinale, the CEO and founder of RedBird, and Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, an Emirati government minister who has led many of IMI’s investment talks . in the United States. Mr. Cardinale is the chief investment officer of RedBird IMI and Mr. Al Jaber is the chairman.
RedBird pledges $250 million to the venture and IMI has agreed to pledge the remaining $750 million. The men met last fall to discuss business in a suite overlooking a Formula 1 race track in Abu Dhabi.
Since Mr. Zucker began his venture last year, dozens of suitors have made the pilgrimage to his office on Madison Avenue near Manhattan’s Central Park, including former CNN employees, agents and business development executives. During those meetings, he discussed the future of entertainment, sports and news, considering various investment opportunities.
Mr Zucker has described RedBird IMI as “Candle Media but half price”, referring to a company run by two former Disney executives, Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. Candle Media has spent billions in cash and stock to buy and combine properties including Moonbug Entertainment, creator of the popular animated show “CoComelon,” and Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s production company.
It remains to be seen whether Mr. Zucker’s acumen as a TV producer and business operator will translate into success in private equity, where profits depend on finding big assets and smart deals. But he is joined by Mr. Cardinale, a Goldman Sachs veteran with decades of investment experience.
Mr. Zucker has already started exploring deals. The company has held discussions to invest in digital media start-ups including Puck and Semafor, and also met with the founders of Punchbowl News, the Capital Hill-focused media start-up to launch in 2021.
In the months since Mr. Zucker founded RedBird IMI, he has begun recruiting. One of his deputies at CNN, Rani Raad, the former president of CNN Commercial Worldwide, has joined the venture.
Mr. Zucker has also told confidants that, with RedBird IMI, he is interested in building a company that owns digital publishing targeted at specific audiences, similar to Condé Nast, publisher of Vogue and The New Yorker.
