By Echo Wang, David French and Edmund Lee
NEW YORK, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Puck is in advanced talks for an investment from RedBird Capital Partners, in a move which will help fund the growth of the newsletter startup, the company confirmed in a statement to Reuters.
The deal with RedBird, a well-known investor in media and entertainment, will value Puck at around $250 million and involve the company’s existing institutional investors selling to RedBird. This will give RedBird a significant stake in the platform, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Puck is in advanced discussions about a strategic recapitalization to accelerate growth that would make RedBird our leading investor,” a Puck spokesperson said in a statement, adding: “Puck’s journalist-centric model, commitment to premium I.P., direct audience relationships, and journalistic independence are at the core of its business model and that will not change.”
Founded in 2021, Puck offers an insider’s take by journalists with longstanding reputations in their fields, focused on a range of topics including media, finance, entertainment, fashion and politics.
RedBird became an investor in Puck after the newsletter company last year acquired Air Mail, a digital magazine focused on luxury and travel founded by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.
RedBird declined comment.
Puck offers equity stakes in the company to its reporters, and also incentivizes its journalists to build followings similar to social media content creators. The founders and its staff will continue to be shareholders, while Puck will maintain its editorial independence, one of the sources said.
CREATOR-LED MEDIA
The media firm was co-founded by former New York Times and Condé Nast journalist Jon Kelly, who leads its editorial operations. Puck has around 50,000 paying subscribers, according to two sources, and Air Mail brings in about additional 50,000 subscribers, according to another source. Kelly set out to create a new model for media by giving its writers a small piece of subscription revenue. Journalists such as Matthew Belloni, who covers Hollywood, have attracted thousands of paying readers, tying the value of Puck closely to specific authors.
The company has previously raised around $20 million in venture funding from investment firms, including the growth arm of TPG, Standard Investments, and J Rothschild Capital Management.
WIDE-RANGING MEDIA INTERESTS
RedBird is one of the main backers behind David Ellison’s bid for his Paramount-Skydance to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. The deal is being challenged by a dozen states as potentially harming theatrical and television distributors and studios, raising prices for consumers and making wages less competitive for workers.
RedBird’s stable of media investments includes Artists Equity, the studio founded by RedBird alongside Hollywood actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and Fulwell Entertainment, formed last year through the merger of Fulwell 73 and The SpringHill Company, the media platform started by basketball star LeBron James and Maverick Carter. The firm’s portfolio also includes All3 Media-Banijay, to create one of Europe’s largest multimedia production groups.
It is also a backer of EverPass Media, the U.S. streaming technology company which holds exclusive commercial distribution rights for NFL Sunday Ticket in bars, restaurants and other commercial venues. DAZN said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy EverPass for an undisclosed price.
Cardinale and RedBird were also a leading contender for British newspaper owner Telegraph Media Group, before it was sold earlier this year to German media conglomerate Axel Springer.
(Reporting by Echo Wang, David French and Edmund Lee in New York; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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