Station 12 Asset Management, a specialist venture capital investor in media, entertainment and knowledge, is to raise GBP60m in two funds – one aimed at institutional investors and the other at the private EIS/SEIS sector.
Station 12, which was founded just over three years ago, has already built a successful track record with investments such as Parade, the TV distributor and Nocturne, the live events operator.
Founder and Managing Partner, Patrick Bradley, says: ‘We now have an exciting, well balanced initial portfolio with a strong pipeline of new investment opportunities ranging from early to growth stages.
‘The UK is the world leader in the media, entertainment and knowledge sectors. Content produced by these industries is already worth GBP20 billion a year in the UK and global demand continues to show dramatic growth.
‘In particular, there are growth opportunities in virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, blockchain and e-sports, alongside the more ‘traditional’ areas of entertainment, music, audio-visual content and live events. These areas are robust in economic downturns and we do not believe they will be adversely affected by Brexit.’
‘Consumer spending in this space is price insensitive,’ says Fabio la Franca, business development manager at Station 12. ‘It is often irrational and captive – similar in many ways to the loyalty of football fans which is why the digital media and entertainment sectors are set to grow twice as fast as UK GDP.’
Kelvin Reader, Principal at Station 12 and the leader of its deal team, says: ‘Unquoted companies in this sector have suffered from an under allocation of capital because investors have traditionally focused on the technological delivery of media rather than media content and services. Successful investment also requires specialist knowledge and experience which is why Station 12 can act as a bridge between investment and the sector.’
The British Government reiterated in the 2017 budget its commitment to encourage investment in knowledge-intensive companies through the EIS/SEIS schemes as part of its response to the Patient Capital Review, saying that “tax-advantaged venture capital schemes are intended to encourage individuals to invest directly or indirectly in small, high growth-potential trading companies that would otherwise struggle to access the funding they need to grow and develop.”
Station 12’s SEIS/EIS media entertainment and knowledge fund is currently open and raising up to GBP10m to invest in its pipeline.
