Qatar Sovereign Wealth Fund Money Flows into Studio That Made ‘Love is Blind’
Posted on 01/31/2023
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s massive sovereign wealth fund, is a major investor in the entertainment industry. QIA is investing US$ 150 million in The North Road Company, an independent studio that produces the TV series. The North Road Company was formed by media finance mogul Peter Chernin. North Road currently has over 85 active productions in the works, including a new season of Love is Blind and Luther.
“QIA’s investment enables North Road to capitalize even further on the growing demand for premium, independent content. Building on the support from Providence Equity, we have already been able to bring together some of the highest-quality suppliers of film and TV content, led by some of the best creative executives in the business. This investment fuels our continuing strategy to expand via organic and inorganic growth initiatives globally,” said Peter Chernin, North Road CEO in a media release.
The North Road Company earlier received as much as US$ 500 million from Providence Equity Partners and another US$ 300 million in debt financing from Apollo Global Management Inc. The North Road Company is making a gamble on reality TV, essentially unscripted programming.
In 2022, ProSiebenSat.1 sold the U.S. part of Red Arrow Studios’ production business (Red Arrow Studios International, Inc.) to North Road Company for US$ 200 million. The transaction took economic effect as of July 1, 2022. This concerns the companies Kinetic Content, Left/Right, 44 Blue Studios, Half Yard Productions, and Dorsey Pictures.
Keywords: ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE.