Lord of the Rings Deal
Lord of the Rings Deal
LOTR

CREDIT: THE SAUL ZAENTZ COMPANY

EXCELLENCE
"One Deal to rule them all"
Thomas Dey

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Syco
EXCELLENCE
"ACF's certainly got talent"
Ian Rosenblatt OBE

CREDIT: SYCO ENTERTAINMENT

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Bear Grylls
INTEGRITY
“You only get one chance
at life and you have to
grab it boldly”
Bear Grylls

CREDIT: BEAR GRYLLS VENTURES

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Paddington
INSIGHT
“Success doesn't come
to you, you go to it.”
Marva Collins

CREDIT: PADDINGTON AND COMPANY

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Shamrock Capital - Boardwalk Pictures credit
INSIGHT
“Stay true to yourself, never let
what somebody says distract
you from your goals.”
Michelle Obama

CREDIT: BOARDWALK PICTURES

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Pilgrim

CREDIT: PILGRIM STUDIOS

INSIGHT
“Success comes to
those who act!”
Henry David Thoreau

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Leftfield
INSIGHT
“The key to success is to
focus on goals not obstacles”
Unknown

CREDIT: LEFTFIELD ENTERTAINMENT

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Plimsoll Productions

CREDIT: PLIMSOLL PRODUCTIONS

INSIGHT
“Success is not final,
failure is not fatal:
it is the courage to
continue that counts.”
Winston Churchill

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Love Productions

CREDIT: LOVE PRODUCTIONS

INTEGRITY
“ When something
is important enough,
you do it even if the odds
are not in your favour”
Elon Musk

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Top Gear
EXCELLENCE
“Success comes to
those who act”
Henry David Thoreau

CREDIT: TOP GEAR

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

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ACF advises True North on its sale of a majority stake to Sky

Above; True North's Building The Dream on Channel 4

ACF Investment Bank is pleased to announce its second transaction in 2017 – the sale of a majority stake in True North to Sky.

ACF is the leading investment bank in the media and entertainment space and has advised on over $1.6 billion in total deal value in the last 18 months and over $4 billion in the intellectual property, content creation and distribution sector, globally.

ACF is a leading investment bank with an unrivaled track record in advising businesses in intellectual property, content creation and international distribution. Led by CEO and President Thomas Dey,  ACF has offices in the U.S.A. and the U.K.

Our team has a track record of advising content creation businesses on market leading transactions and providing unrivaled independent advice securing the best transactions. If you are considering selling your company, buying a business or fundraising, we have the expertise and track record to help you find the right solution.


True North is one of the UK’s leading independent production companies and is responsible for some of the most enduring factual shows on television in the last decade, including Building the Dream (10 seasons), Animal 24:7 (8 seasons), Junior/Ultimate Vets (6 seasons) and Homes by the Sea/Med (5 seasons).

True North was founded in Leeds by highly respected and experienced creatives, Andrew Sheldon and Jess Fowle in 2001, to focus on factual, documentary and current affairs programming. A further business winner, Factual Entertainment specialist, Fiona O’Sullivan joined the team in 2011 to help diversify the company’s offering and support its growth ambitions by establishing its Manchester office.

In 2012, Marc Allen joined as Managing Director to enhance the group’s commercial focus and bring an added financial discipline and strategic direction to the now sizeable group. This creatively and commercially successful team comes with a demonstrable record of creating long-running popular shows across a range of genres including lifestyle & property, children’s, reality and animal series.

As part of True North’s growth strategy, the management team have recently focused on developing formatted factual entertainment shows for international markets – this transaction will allow the company to benefit from partnering with Sky’s international footprint, as well as, from the support of an in-house distribution partner in Sky Vision.

The Channel 4 Growth Fund, which invested in True North for a 25% equity stake in 2014, is selling all of its equity as part of the deal. The deal represents Channel 4’s first full indie Growth Fund exit. The not-for-profit commercial broadcaster will plough all returns from its commercial investments back into original UK content and the fund.

The True North management team will continue to spearhead the company while retaining their creative independence, allowing the company to not only continue to produce its stable of long running factual programmes but build on the success of The Lie Detective and grow its exciting formatted factual entertainment slate.


Sky is the UK and Ireland’s largest pay-TV broadcaster with over 21.8m subscribers and 30,000+ employees. The Group is listed on London’s FTSE 100 Index with a market capitalisation of £17 billion (US$20.6 billion) as at January 2017.


True North Programming

Above; True North's Building The Dream on Channel 4
Above; True North's Building The Dream on Channel 4
The Lie Detective
The Lie Detective
Homes by the Med
Homes by the Med
Homes by the Sea
Homes by the Sea

“We are delighted to be joining forces with one of the most exciting and ambitious names in the TV industry.  Working with ACF meant we were able to achieve the best possible outcome during this key time in the growth of our business. Tom and his team worked tirelessly to ensure that the investment process was smooth, transparent and highly professional and we benefited greatly from the expertise shown by ACF throughout.  This is a very exciting time for True North and we look forward to working alongside Sky to grow our slate both in the UK and internationally.”

Andrew Sheldon, Creative Directors and Co-Founder, True North

“We are very pleased we entrusted ACF to advise us on our important first sale from the Indie Growth Fund. ACF ran a professional process examining all our options and secured the most attractive deal for us and True North in an efficient manner. We are glad we have supported True North in this phase of their growth and look forward to seeing them thrive as part of Sky.”

Laura Franses, Head of Indie Growth Fund, Channel 4

“We are delighted to have advised Jess, Andrew, Marc, Fiona and Channel 4 on this transaction. True North is an ambitious, innovative, and commercially successful producer and I have no doubt that the company will be a great success partnering with Sky as it seeks to expand internationally. We wish the team all the very best in their new home.”

ACF Investment Bank


5/5

What People Are Saying

“Since this was our first time working with an investment bank and raising capital for any of our businesses, I wasn’t sure what to expect. ACF has a great reputation and came highly recommended from several people that I hold in high regard. Overall, the experience working with Richard, Milos and Thomas was pure joy. They were the perfect partner for us, as they educated us as we were working through the process, they challenged us to think bigger about the scope and scale of our business, and they aggressively represented our business in the marketplace bringing multiple opportunities to us in a very challenging economic time. The partnership and guidance they provided was essential and they were extremely easy to work with. I only hope this is the first of many deals that we are able to execute together.”

Shawn Gee
Two One Five Entertainment

"ACF’s certainly got talent. Their team, led by the ever-tenacious Thomas Dey, delivered on their promises and introduced the perfect partners to achieve our goals."

Ian Rosenblatt OBE, Director
Syco Entertainment

"Given the complexities and importance of the rights at stake in our transaction, we interviewed several investment bank candidates at length before retaining ACF to guide our process.  We could not have chosen better!  ACF personnel were dedicated, creative, practical, responsive and deeply knowledgeable about the intricacies of the sales process. Over the months involved, Thomas, Richard, Tatiana and the rest of the ACF staff met with and worked skillfully and credibly with scores of potential buyers and with our own employees leading ultimately to a high value and very fair outcome benefitting both our company and the buyer. They have our deep respect and gratitude for a job so well accomplished"

Marty Glick, COO
The Saul Zaentz Company

“At this stage of 72’s development, there are great advantages and opportunities of joining forces with Fremantle. Their extensive international infrastructure and expertise will provide 72 Films with the platform to have our work seen across the world. We know and like their excellent team. And they offer us not only fantastic support but complete creative freedom so we can continue to work in the same way.

It’s been a real pleasure working with Thomas Dey and the whole team at ACF. They are brilliant at what they do. And alongside Matisse it’s been an incredible team behind this deal.”

Mark Raphael, David Glover, Founders and Chief Executive Officers
72 Films

“This exciting new deal between Broke and Bones and Netflix marks an exciting period of content creation, demonstrating the strong relationship between market leading creatives and the streaming platforms. ACF brokered the deal using our strong track record, experience and access in the UK and USA scripted markets. Premium content continues to lead the market with strong deals that ACF have closed including advising Mammoth Screen on sale to ITV, Neal Street to All3Media, Left Bank Pictures to Sony, Thinkfactory to ITV, Paddington Bear to Studio Canal, New Pictures to All3Media, and Carnival Pictures to NBC Universal.”

Thomas Dey, CEO
ACF Investment Bank

"It has been an incredible journey for Delbert and I to get to the stage where we can build out our adventure shows under our own Studio. We stand on the shoulders of many giants, the ACF team have been incredible guides through the process - at its heart this is about building the ultimate home of adventure programming worldwide."

Bear Grylls & Delbert Shoopman
The Natural Studios

"Critical Content has been a leading player in the unscripted space for the last decade, led by a first class team. Media continues to dominate the deal landscape, with content leading the pack. What a great start to 2022! Congratulations to the whole team."

Thomas Dey, CEO
ACF Investment Bank

"Boardwalk Pictures are one of the preeminent producers of premium content and this partnership with Shamrock secures Boardwalks positioning as a leading player in this market. Shamrock’s deep understanding and experience in the content space makes them great partners for Andrew and the team at Boardwalk. I look forward to seeing the growth and future success of this partnership."

RIchard Gray, Managing Director
ACF Investment Bank