News

Abry Partners has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in New York City-based Screenvision Media, a cinema advertising provider. No financial terms were disclosed. As part of the deal, Screenvision Media’s current owners Shamrock Capital and AMC Entertainment will maintain minority stakes. The transaction is expected to close this summer. Moelis & Company was financial adviser to Shamrock Capital while LionTree Advisors did likewise for Abry Partners.

PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK, June 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Screenvision Media, a national leader in cinema media and advertising, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement whereby Abry Partners, a leading media-focused private equity firm, will acquire a controlling stake in the company. As part of the agreement, the company’s existing owners, Shamrock Capital and AMC Entertainment, will maintain minority stakes. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Unlike most traditional advertising media, cinema advertising continues to be a growing, premium video offering with its stable and consistent audience delivery. Screenvision Media has dramatically grown the cinema advertising market, demonstrating 30% revenue growth and tripling profitability over the past three years.

“Abry’s investment in Screenvision Media is a true testament to the vitality of our company and the cinema advertising market,” said John Partilla, Screenvision Media CEO. “We’re excited to build on our recent growth with Abry Partners and look forward to all that we can achieve together. Thanks to its scale and unrivaled impact, cinema advertising is uniquely positioned to benefit from eroding audiences on alternative media platforms. We’re at an inflection point in the current media landscape, and the cinema advertising platform couldn’t be more well-positioned for sustained future growth.”

“We see a very bright future for Screenvision,” said John Hunt, Managing Partner of Abry Partners. “We look forward to partnering alongside and investing with their first-rate management team to help further unlock future growth for the company as well as their leading network of exhibitors.”

Screenvision Media’s unique storytelling, data and technology offerings deepen brand engagement and extend impact with audiences as their advertising platform goes beyond on-screen advertising. The company’s “Connected Cinema” solutions and advanced targeting platform, Cintel, enables advertisers to activate before, during and after the movies, while strategically targeting audiences beyond basic ratings and demographics. Furthermore, Screenvision Media recently announced technological innovations and strategic alliances around virtual reality and augmented reality to provide brands with additional high-impact engagement platforms.

“John Partilla and the driven Screenvision Media management team have done a stellar job transforming the company and setting an industry-leading example for the cinema media and advertising sector,” said Steve Royer, Partner at Shamrock Capital. “We are proud to support them and their initiatives and look forward to continuing our partnership with them during the next chapter of its growth.”

“Screenvision Media has been an excellent partner of ours, delivering extraordinary media solutions on-screen and in the lobbies,” added AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron. “We are thrilled that Abry has recognized the strength in the Screenvision Media platform and for the investment that they will be providing to continue the already-robust solution provided to ourselves and Screenvision Media’s other 170 exhibitor partners.”

Moelis & Company served as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP as legal advisor to Shamrock Capital on the transaction. LionTree Advisors served as financial advisors and Kirkland & Ellis as legal advisor for Abry Partners. Deutsche Bank has committed to provide debt financing for the transaction on an exclusive basis and is acting as sole Lead Arranger and Bookrunner. The transaction is expected to be finalized this summer.

ABOUT SCREENVISION MEDIA
Headquartered in New York, N.Y., Screenvision Media is a national leader in cinema advertising, offering on-screen advertising, in-lobby promotions and integrated marketing programs to national, regional and local advertisers, and providing comprehensive cinema advertising representation services to top-tier theatrical exhibitors presenting the highest-quality movie-going experiences.

The Screenvision Media cinema advertising network is comprised of over 15,000 screens in 2,300+ theatre locations across all 50 states and 94% of DMAs nationwide; delivering through more than 150 theatrical circuits, including 7 of the top 10 exhibitor companies. For more information: http://screenvisionmedia.com/.

ABOUT ABRY PARTNERS
Abry Partners is one of the most experienced media, communications, and information services sector-focused private equity firms in North America. Since its founding in 1989, the firm has completed over $77 billion of transactions, including leveraged buyouts, growth financings and recapitalizations. Currently, Abry manages over $5.0 billion of capital in its active funds.

ABOUT SHAMROCK CAPITAL
Shamrock Capital is a Los Angeles-based alternative investment firm with approximately $1.9 billion of assets under management, investing exclusively in the media, entertainment and communications sectors. Shamrock was originally founded in 1978 as the Roy E. Disney Family Investment Company and has since evolved into an institutional money manager with a leading group of investors including endowment and pension funds. Shamrock partners with strong management teams and takes an active, collaborative approach to creating value in each investment. Shamrock’s current investments include Appetize, Branded Cities, BTI Studios, FanDuel, Giant Creative, Isolation Network, Maple Media, Mobilitie, Omega Wireless, Questex, RBmedia, Screenvision Media, Silvergate Media, Wazee Digital, and wPromote. For more information, visit: shamrockcap.com.