Zodiak acquires RDF Media
According to C21Media.net, Zodiak Entertainment has bought RDF Media Group, one of the UK’s
largest independent production and distribution companies.
Zodiac has appointed David Frank - previously CEO of RDF - as CEO of the newly-merged group .
Lorenzo Pellicioli, CEO of De Agostini Group and chairman and CEO of
Zodiak will continue to serve as chairman of the new enlarged operation
which has annual sales exceeding €500 million.
Zodiak now has a significant presence in more than 20 countries, including the UK, the US, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and
Russia.
Headquartered in Paris, Zodiak was originally created by De Agostini
through the acquisition of the Magnolia Group in Italy/Spain (2007),
the Marathon Group in France (2007) and Zodiak Television in
territories including Scandinavia, Benelux, Poland, Russia, India and
Latin America (2008). De Agostini, a family-owned private group, is an
international financial conglomerate with a holding, De Agostini S.p.A,
that coordinates the strategic operating companies - De Agostini
Editore (Publishing), Antena 3, jointly with Planeta Corporation, and
Zodiak Entertainment (media and communications), Lottomatica Group
(gaming) and DeA Capital (finance).
RDF was founded by David Frank in 1993, floated on the London Stock
Market (AIM) in 2005 and was subsequently acquired in 2009 by a
consortium of the RDF management team and funds managed by Cyrte
Investments BV.
As a result of this deal, Zodiak is now 71 per cent owned by De Agostini with
the remaining 29 per cent of Zodiak capital owned by Zodiak managers (including
RDF managers) and funds managed by Cyrte Investments BV.
Lorenzo Pellicioli, CEO of De Agostini Group, said: “With the
acquisition of RDF Media Group the consolidation process of Zodiak is
completed. Zodiak, with its strong international footprint and its
presence in all entertainment formats, is today one of the main content
producers in the world. We are particularly glad to welcome David Frank
as the new CEO of Zodiak and we are sure that his experience and his
deep expertise will lead Zodiak towards important goals.”
Frank added: “The content business is both changing rapidly and
becoming more global by the day and this is a huge opportunity to be at
the very heart of this revolution. In my opinion to succeed you need
two things – brilliant creative executives and scale. This deal
delivers both and I am confident that the Zodiak management team can
build a world-beating company.”
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