Media: creation of a joint venture, RedBird IMI (investment company); Jeff Zucker named CEO

The US investment fund RedBird Capital Partners and the Abu Dhabi-based audiovisual production company International Media Investments (IMI), have established the RedBird IMI joint venture, focused on investing in media, entertainment and sports content, according to the two entities on 13/12/2022.

The joint venture has an initial capital of $1bn (€939m). Jeff Zucker, former CEO of the US media company CNN, has been appointed CEO of RedBird IMI. He also joins RedBird Capital Partners as an operating partner.

"Mr. Zucker brings more than three decades of leadership experience across news, sports, entertainment and digital innovation to the new venture. Zucker was the CEO of CNN from 2013 to 2022, leading a transformative turnaround of the global brand. He also was the president of Turner Sports from 2019 to 2022. Prior to that, he spent 25 years at NBCUniversal, where he served as the CEO from 2007 to 2011. In 2007, he co-founded the online streaming service Hulu," explained RedBird.

"Partnering will enable us to make impactful and transformative investments across the media…