Boat Rocker Offloads Untitled Entertainment

Boat Rocker Media has sold off its majority stake in the talent management company Untitled Entertainment to TPG.

Boat Rocker will receive C$51.6 million in cash and an 8.8 percent equity stake in TPG’s new talent management company. The asset management firm’s investments already include DirecTV, Entertainment Partners and Calm. The new talent management company will be led by Michel Pratte as CEO and Eric Taitz as COO.

Boat Rocker will use the funds to increase its focus on investing in owned IP, particularly scripted, premium docs and animation. It may also explore M&A opportunities.

“Collaborating with Untitled over the last five years has opened the door to strong partnerships and talent relationships,” said Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier, co-executive chairmen of Boat Rocker Media and co-chairmen of Boat Rocker Studios. “This exciting new opportunity to carry on doing business with Untitled, as well as partner with world-class investor TPG, enables us to maintain our ties to the representation space while we focus on our core business: owned IP. Through our partnership with the Company, we’re also delighted to continue working with Michel and Eric, two extremely capable individuals who possess a deep understanding of the talent management business. Given continued uncertainty in the market, we believe more strongly than ever that using our capital and corporate resources to maximize control over our destiny and provide the most flexibility in our IP strategy is the best path forward.”

“Since going public, we have remained focused on producing premium IP for buyers around the globe, and creating a strong financial position,” said John Young, CEO of Boat Rocker Media. “In selling our stake in Untitled and investing in the Company with TPG and others, we see an attractive opportunity to continue down this path. The sale generates a strong return on our investment and better positions Boat Rocker for long-term success. We have the opportunity to maintain diversification in our portfolio while at the same time further streamline our core operations. We continue to operate debt-free3, now with an even stronger balance sheet to invest in and create industry leading IP.”

LionTree Advisors acted as financial advisor to Boat Rocker on the transaction. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Stikeman Elliott served as legal advisors.