Transatlantic company will have a vast unscripted footprint
Fulwell73 and The SpringHill Company, the entertainment business founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, have struck a 50/50 merger to create a production giant.
The deal will complete in Q4 following circa 10 months of talks and will see the formation of a new, yet-to-be named group led by Fulwell’s Leo Pearlman and SpringHill’s Maverick Carter as co-chief executives.
It will have a vast footprint, predominantly in almost all genres of unscripted. The new company will seek to produce high-end content for the biggest players in television and streaming, leverage premium talent relationships, and develop and exploit a range of IP that it owns.
What is The SpringHill Company?
The SpringHill Company is a diversified media and entertainment business that produces feature films and TV series, YouTube shows, live tours, apparel and consumer goods and award-winning brand campaigns.
It is best known for Emmy Award-winning series The Shop, Paramount Plus’ How Music Got Free, A Motown Christmas for NBC and Peacock, and multiple Netflix series including Starting 5, Rez Ball, Hustle and Top Boy.
As well as selling shows to streamers and networks, it partners with top-level talent and major brands across technology, gaming, sports and entertainment, especially via its New York-based brand consultancy firm Robot.
By comparison, Fulwell has been a slightly more traditional production company. It biggest shows include the long-running Sunderland ‘Til I Die for Netflix and Hulu’s The Kardashians, as well a raft of premium titles linked to live events or major talent, such as specials for Adele, Sir Elton John and Ed Sheeran. It also produced the recent Paris-to-Los Angeles Olympics hand-over, starring Tom Cruise.
The merger will allow Fulwell to harness some of Springhill’s success in creating its own consumer networks. Its Uninterupted brand, for example, produces doc series for the likes of Netflix and History, but has also found success connecting athletes direct to fans via YouTube and other platforms, as well as selling merchandise and delivering live events.
An example of where Fulwell may now evolve its strategy is around the creation of new IP akin to Carpool Karaoke. That format grew from a section of the Late Late Show with James Corden to become a lucrative full-length series for Apple TV+, but it is likely that the newly merged business would exploit it differently and more directly with consumers.
Limited financial details are available beyond the deal being a straight 50/50 merger. None of the key executives and partners at the two companies are leaving as a result of the merger, nor are the various investors in Springhill or Fulwell exiting.
Instead, those investors have agreed to pump an additional $40m dollars into the expanded business to help kick off its enlarged ambitions. The list includes Fenway Sports Group, RedBird Capital Partners, UC Investments, Nike, Epic Games and Main Street Advisors, which all back SpringHill, and Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries.
Fulwell 73 partners Ben Winston, Leo Pearlman, Ben Turner, Gabe Turner and James Corden said in a joint statement: “Since Fulwell 73’s inception, we’ve tried to make content that entertains, informs, and excites, while sparking conversations around the world. That’s the mantra at The SpringHill Company as well. Together, we’ll continue doing what we do best, and now we’ll do it as a global entertainment studio with more to offer our partners. We recognize the major shifts underway in entertainment and the world and we’re excited to build a company with The SpringHill Company that’s designed for the future.”
The SpringHill Company chief executive Maverick Carter said: “At The SpringHill Company, we’ve always given athletes, artists and brands a platform to tell meaningful and diverse stories in all forms and formats, from digital-native shows and IRL experiences to streamed series and theatrically released movies.
“We found like-minded partners in Fulwell 73, partners who understand this business and the critical importance of building opportunities for talent across the media and entertainment landscape. Like everyone, we see the ways audience behavior is shifting and the demands on storytellers are evolving. We are excited for those changes and feel ready to adapt alongside the Fulwell 73 team.”
The new group will maintain Fulwell’s London and Sunderland offices, expand in LA where both companies have an existing presence and maintain Springhill’s New York office, where Robot and Interrupted are based.
The SpringHill Company was advised by LA-based media and entertainment investment and advisory firm Main Street Advisors as well as law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Fulwell 73 was advised by the London-based investment team at NewShore Partners as well as Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz for US legal and tax matters and Wiggin and Saffreys for United Kingdom legal and tax matters.
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