News

EagleTree has acquired a majority stake in FuseFX, an independent visual effects studio that provides services for episodic television, feature films, commercials and VR productions. No financial terms were disclosed.

PRESS RELEASE

LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK – October 11, 2018 – FuseFX, Inc., one of the leading independent visual effects studios providing services for episodic television, feature films, commercials, and VR productions, and EagleTree Capital, on behalf of its private equity fund EagleTree Partners IV, announced that EagleTree, in partnership with the Company’s founders, acquired a majority stake in FuseFX. EagleTree’s investment is focused on accelerating the Company’s already impressive growth. Founder and Chief Executive Officer, David Altenau, as well as fellow co-founders, Chief Development Officer, Tim Jacobsen, and Chief Technology Officer, Jason Fotter, will retain a significant minority stake and continue to lead the Company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2006, FuseFX is the market leader in providing visual effects for episodic content and continues to broaden services in feature films, commercials and VR. The Company is headquartered in Los Angeles and has studios in New York and Vancouver. FuseFX has a strong presence across the entire episodic spectrum, including traditional networks, cable channels, premium content, and streaming (OTT) providers. The Company has established long standing relationships with many iconic episodic programs, such as Criminal Minds, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., American Horror Story, The Blacklist, The Magicians, Empire, and Preacher, among others. The Company is also currently working on a wide variety of high-profile and complex shows including such titles as Lost in Space, Ozark, Orville, Deadly Class, The Tick, Marvel’s Runaways, Luke Cage and Mr. Robot (which just received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Visual Effects).

“The demand for, and incredible momentum in content across digital and traditional platforms continues to increase the need for high-quality visual effects,” said Mr. Altenau. “Partnering with EagleTree will enable us to capitalize on this trend, improve the service we offer our clients and accelerate our growth by expanding our geographic reach and scale, entering adjacent markets, continuing to broaden our existing creative services and exploring various business development opportunities. This investment will allow us expand our pool of talent and offer visual effects services in more locations, not only to service local production worldwide, but to place work in geographic locations most suited to our clients’ needs. ”

“We’re very pleased to add FuseFX to EagleTree’s portfolio, and we’re looking forward to working with David, Tim, and Jason,” said Anup Bagaria, Co-Managing Partner at EagleTree. “EagleTree has a long history of partnering with founders to help take their businesses to the next level. We’re very excited to have formed this partnership with the FuseFX team.”

“David, Tim and Jason have built the premier, best-in-class visual effects studio that has grown rapidly and established deep industry relationships with all the major studios,” said Michael Struble, Senior Partner at EagleTree. “Anchored by the Company’s proprietary workflow software, Nucleus, FuseFX has not only differentiated itself in the visual effects industry, but also laid a foundation to capitalize on all the exciting trends in episodic content creation. Our philosophy is to identify the best companies in a particular sector and support the existing team in accelerating their growth. FuseFX fits that model perfectly.”

Mr. Altenau added, “The partnership with EagleTree will help accelerate many initiatives already underway, and we look forward to making some exciting announcements, such as a new FuseFX Atlanta office, in the very near future. Importantly, the new investment will allow us to continue to keep our customers as our number one priority, while building the infrastructure to support our exciting growth plans.”

JEGI|Clarity served as financial advisor to FuseFX and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP served as legal advisor. Jones Day served as legal advisor to EagleTree.

About FuseFX
FuseFX is a full-service visual effects studio serving the television, feature film and advertising industries from facilities in Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver. Founded in 2006 by David Altenau, the Company encompasses a crew of more than 300 highly talented and experienced artists, producers and support personnel. Using its refined, custom database and pipeline, the company can accommodate numerous, high shot-count productions while delivering high-quality, on-time results. For more information, visit www.fusefx.com.

About EagleTree Capital
EagleTree Capital, formerly Wasserstein Partners, is a New York based private equity and investment firm. It manages capital on behalf of global institutional and individual investors. EagleTree’s private equity funds invest primarily in the media and business services, consumer products, and water and industrial sectors. For more information, visit www.eagletree.com.