International preschool TV production and licensing company to leverage new majority investor to expand intellectual property, library rights and digital capabilities, as well as its presence in China.
LONDON, NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES -- Silvergate Media, an international TV production and licensing company focused on pre-school children’s entertainment, has announced it will partner with Shamrock Capital Advisors in order to accelerate Silvergate’s global growth, organically and by acquisition.
Shamrock has acquired a majority stake in Silvergate to support the growth of the business, in particular to expand Silvergate’s intellectual property, library rights and digital capabilities as well as its presence in China. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Shamrock is a Los Angeles-based private equity firm with a rich history of investing in the media, entertainment and communications sectors. The firm traces its heritage back to the family investment company for the late Roy E. Disney family.
Waheed Alli, CEO and William Astor, Chairman, who founded Silvergate in 2011, will continue in their roles, driving further expansion of the business globally.
Alli commented, “Having just completed another year of strong growth and portfolio development, we are excited to be partnering with Shamrock. They have a tremendous track record of investing in media and entertainment businesses and truly understand the value of generating great content, given their extensive experience in the sector and unique heritage. We have made excellent progress this year globally with Octonauts and more recently Sunny Day. We are also accelerating the growth of our portfolio with the development of brand new children’s programmes for partners including Disney, Nickelodeon and Netflix. The support of Shamrock will enable us to expand the business faster through further organic growth as well as by acquisitions.”
William Wynperle, Partner at Shamrock Capital Advisors, added, “Silvergate has developed a unique set of kids’ properties with significant upside potential. We look forward to working with Waheed, William and their team to build on Silvergate’s track record of creating the highest quality content for the children’s market. With significant global demand for content, a tremendous team, and several quality brands, the Company is well positioned for the future.”
Among Silvergate’s portfolio of projects in production are Octonauts (currently in its fourth season) and its newest preschool series for Nickelodeon, Sunny Day (first season to be aired in 2017). Silvergate is currently in pre-production on several brand new programs for partners including Disney, YouTube and Netflix as their development slate continues to grow.
Silvergate is also working with China Central TV (“CCTV”) to co-produce Series 5 of Octonauts, which is CCTV’s first co-production with a Western media company to develop a pre-school animation series.
Silvergate’s programs are aired in over 100 countries across the world, including on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon (USA), CBeebies (UK), ABC (Australia), TF1 (France) and Super RTL (Germany) and CCTV (China).
Source: Silvergate Media
