Investment and advisory business Edition Capital has launched First Edition EIS, an investment fund that aims to provide growth support for businesses in the media and entertainment sectors.
The fund, which is targeting an initial raise of up to GBP20 million, will focus on the live entertainment, television, venues and immersive media sectors.
Edition Capital partner Harry Heartfield says: “We’re extremely excited to be launching ‘First Edition EIS’ and we’re very much looking forward to identifying the next big things in the media and entertainment sectors. The Edition Capital team is highly experienced in developing emerging brands and helping them realise their potential.”
Over the past 15 years, members of the team have been involved with a number of international music and entertainment businesses including 19 Entertainment (sold for in excess of USD100 million) and Cream – sold in 2012 to Live Nation.
The fund will span both profitable and pre-profit businesses, from the roll out of existing established concepts through to the creation of new assets in the many promising areas of the media and entertainment fields.
The launch follows the sale of Impresario Festivals' festival assets to Global, a sale in which Edition Capital played a critical role. The sale equates to a doubling of shareholder value in less than four years.
Since its launch in 2012, Impresario has grown by acquiring some of the UK’s leading festival brands including Field Day, Boardmasters, South West Four Weekender and Rewind. The festivals being sold attracted a combined audience of 350,000 within the UK this year and have featured artists as varied as The Chemical Brothers, James Bay, PJ Harvey and Rick Astley. According to research published by Mintel the live music and festivals market has a value of more than GBP2 billion and could rise as high as GBP3.5 billion in 2020.
Impresario Festivals group CEO David Heartfield says: “We are delighted with the work that the Edition team members have done for Impresario since inception. This transaction delivers real value for shareholders and is testament to the dedication and hard work of the team.”
