FL Entertainment: The Independents, the leading global marketing
and communications group for luxury and lifestyle brands, announces
$400 million investment, led by TowerBrook Capital Partners and FL
Entertainment
The Independents, the
leading global marketing and communications group for luxury and
lifestyle brands, announces $400 million
investment, led by TowerBrook
Capital Partners and FL
Entertainment
The Independents Group
(‘The Independents’ ‘the
group’) today announces a
USD 400 million
investment led by TowerBrook
and FL Entertainment to accelerate its
development and international expansion. The group
has seen more than five years of strong growth since its creation
in 2017, and now reaches a new milestone with
this significant investment
which will support the Company in
realizing its ambition to more than double in size by 2025, through
a strong acquisition strategy and dynamic
international
expansion.
The leading global marketing and
communications group for luxury and lifestyle brands, The
Independents is a cross-sector leader, encompassing communications
and digital marketing, experience, content creation and influencer
strategy through its synergistic portfolio of
six world renowned
agencies: Bureau
Betak & Bureau
Future, K2, Karla Otto,
Lefty, Prodject, and The
Qode. Revenue
for the group in 2023 is expected to
reach USD 450
million, equally split
between Asia, the USA and Europe
& the Middle East. Following the
successful recent debt financing lead by BIL, Société Générale,
LCL, La Banque Postale and CIC Private debt, the investment from
TowerBrook and FL Entertainment finalizes The Independents’
USD 400 million fundraising. The partnership with TowerBrook – the
London and New York-based international investment firm
with strong experience in supporting companies with high
growth potential – and FL Entertainment – a global independent
leader in the entertainment industry with unparalleled expertise in
bringing together entrepreneurs of the entertainment industry –
will bring the financial backing and expertise necessary for The
Independents to accelerate its growth trajectory, both organically
and via an ambitious acquisition strategy. This new partnership
will allow The Independents to further consolidate its position as
a global communications, marketing and event management partner to
the most iconic luxury brands in the world.
The Independents’ robust growth trajectory since
its creation demonstrates the strength of its positioning as well
as the success of its careful consolidation strategy, which offers
its 380 top-tier clients unparalleled knowledge, access, and
resources to execute relevant projects in localized markets around
the world. This latest successful fundraising round will further
cement the Group as a pioneer in brand positioning for luxury,
fashion, design, lifestyle, hospitality, and the arts.
Isabelle Chouvet, Chief Executive & Founder
of The Independents Group, adds:"Clients’ briefs are increasingly
fluid and call for a new way of combining practices; our carefully
curated build up strategy of connecting the best-in-class agencies
and industry pioneers allows us to deliver a comprehensive and
holistic range of actionable solutions. The substantial investment
gives us the capacity to further execute our innovative, integrated
services worldwide. "
Fahd Elkadiri and Edouard Peugeot, Managing
Directors at TowerBrook said:“We are proud to be investing in The
Independents and partnering with passionate and experienced
founders as well as the other partners forming this committed and
talented team. We have been highly impressed by the Company’s
history of growth to date, which was made possible by the quality
of its people, the strength of its service offering, and a sound
consolidation strategy, which allowed the Company to create a
differentiated, global and one-stop-shop positioning in its market.
We believe there continue to be tremendous growth opportunities for
the Company, and we are as such very much looking forward to
supporting the business in its next phase of development with the
full contribution of our global TowerBrook eco-system.”
François Riahi, Chief Executive Officer of FL
Entertainment, adds: “This is a great opportunity to partner with a
successful business within a dynamic industry, carried by strong
tailwinds and that remains largely unconsolidated. We share the
same entrepreneurial DNA with The Independents and there are strong
similarities with our existing content & production activity.
This investment demonstrates our ability to identify and capitalize
on fast-growing and fragmented segments of the global entertainment
industry. We are very much looking forward to working with all the
talented teams of the Independents to write alongside them the next
chapters of their remarkable entrepreneurial success story.”
“It is very important for us to have a partner
who understands not only the industry, but also the culture,” says
Alexandre de Betak, co-founder of The Independents Group. “There is
a natural synergy with our new partners; we are similarly building
an independent portfolio of leading talents with inherent shared
values at our core. More and More, our clients are looking to
become cultural brands. This new investment partnership is the next
logical step for us to enable that.” The new deal
will see existing partners Cathay Capital exit the group. All the
partners at The Independents pay thanks to Cathay Capital for its
unwavering and ongoing support and encouragement.
About The IndependentsThe
Independents is a global group of agencies for industry leaders
across luxury and lifestyle, comprising Bureau Betak & Bureau
Future, Karla Otto, K2, The Qode, Lefty and Prodject. The
agency collective is powerfully positioned to offer streamlined
strategy, creative, talent, influencer marketing, experiences and
communications services for leading brands across key territories –
(Milan, Paris, London, Munich, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong,
Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, Dubai, Riyadh)
About
TowerBrook Capital
PartnersTowerBrook is a purpose-driven, transatlantic
investment firm that works to grow and improve large and
middle-market businesses by partnering with management teams and
employees to build excellent companies that make a positive impact
on society. Since inception in 2001, TowerBrook has raised a total
of $21.9 billion and invested in 90 companies on both sides of the
Atlantic. TowerBrook operates as a single, unified team of
experienced investment professionals focused on unlocking value in
complex situations. The firm’s highly synergistic family of funds
make control and non-control investments across the capital
structure, providing capital and resources to transform the
capabilities and prospects of its portfolio companies.As a
disciplined investor with a commitment to fundamental value,
TowerBrook seeks to deliver superior, risk-adjusted returns to
investors on a consistent and responsible basis. TowerBrook is the
first mainstream private equity firm to be certified as a B
Corporation. B Corporation certification is administered by the
non-profit B Lab organisation and is awarded to companies that
demonstrate leadership in their commitment to environmental, social
and governance (ESG) standards and responsible business
practices.For more information, please
visit www.towerbrook.com
About FL EntertainmentFounded
by Stéphane Courbit, a 30-year entertainment industry pioneer and
entrepreneur, FL Entertainment Group is a global leader in
multimedia content and online sports betting and gaming, combining
the strengths of Banijay, the world’s largest independent producer
distributor, with Betclic Everest Group, the fastest growing online
sports betting platform in Europe. In 2022, FL Entertainment
recorded through Banijay and Betclic Everest Group, a combined
revenue, and Adjusted EBITDA, of €4,047m and €670m respectively. FL
Entertainment is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. ISIN: NL0015000X07 -
Bloomberg: FLE NA - Reuters: FLE.For more information, please
visit https://www.flentertainment.com/
Media enquiries:
The Independents:Lissy von
Schwarzkopf - Karla Otto+ (1) 914 608
4009Lissy.vonschwarzkopf@karlaotto.com
Jodie Tillman - Karla Otto + (1) 917 328
7137Jodie.Tillman@karlaotto.com
TowerBrook:Sam
Durant - Brunswick Group+44 (0) 7587
037232towerbrookuk@brunswickgroup.com
FL Entertainment:Hugues Boeton
– Brunswick Group +33679992715hboeton@brunswickgroup.com
Nicolas Grange – Brunswick
Group+33629562019 ngrange@brunswickgroup.com
- The Independents press release_FINAL
FL Entertainment NV (EU:FLE)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Abr 2024 até Mai 2024
FL Entertainment NV (EU:FLE)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Mai 2023 até Mai 2024