UK Factual Specialist Zinc Media Group Attracts £4M To Fuel Growth
UK factual specialist Zinc Media Group has completed a £4m ($5.2M) fund raise to help fuel growth. The funds were conditionally raised in a fundraising round in the City which closed on 27 October.
The new investment, raised through a new share issue and conditional on a green-light at an upcoming AGM, is aimed at driving growth in 2021 and follows a previous round which the company says attracted £3.5m of new funds in January this year.
According to the group, the January funding allowed the firm to invest in several senior creative appointments; launch a new Branded Content division, headed by Dominic de Terville, launch a new factual entertainment and formats label Red Sauce, headed by Tom Edwards; build a new post production facility; move its London operations to a new office; and strengthen its corporate infrastructure. The group announced back in September that it would also explore targeted M&A.
Zinc comprises five factual TV production brands: Blakeway, Brook Lapping, Films Of Record, Tern Television and recently-launched Red Sauce.
Recent re-commissions include BBC’s Beechgrove Garden, Britain’s Lost Masterpieces and The People’s News, and Channel 5’s History of Britain with Tony Robinson, Bargain Loving Brits in the Sun and The World’s Funniest Ads with Jason Manford. Shows also include Brook Lapping’s The Curious Life of…. (6 x 45 min for Smithsonian Channel) and Cuba: Castro vs the World (2 x 60 min for ARTE France/BBC); Blakeway’s Tutankhamun in Colour (1x 60 min for National Geographic/BBC Four/FTV) and Henry VIII: Man, Monarch, Monster (3 x 60 mins for Channel 5/Motion Content Group); Tern Television’s Inside The Zoo (8 x 60 mins for BBC Scotland) and Emergency Rescue: Air, Land & Sea (10 x 60 mins for More 4).
The group also includes Zinc Communicate, an agency division producing TV and digital content for advertisers, publishers and media owners.
Mark Browning, CEO of Zinc Media, said: “Covid-19 has increased the pace of change in commissioning and opened up new opportunities for Zinc. We are now having discussions about all sorts of opportunities that weren’t available six months ago.
“This investment provides a bulwark against further Covid related disruption, even if it extends into 2021, and it means we can now drive forward our growth plans. New markets for content creation are emerging and we see opportunities for further revenue diversification as we expand the kind of content we make both in Zinc TV’s labels and in Zinc Communicate. Zinc has a strong UK footprint in the Nations, Regions and London along with a sizeable proportion of revenues from outside the domestic market.
“Demand for our labels’ programming is extremely strong, both domestically and internationally, and we are getting a lot of traction in the US. Our strategy for 2021 includes diversifying our revenues; exploring IP and format rights; developing our radio and audio business and expanding our Nations and Regions profile. Exceptional creative talent is at the heart of this strategy.”
Zinc operates in Aberdeen, Belfast, Glasgow, London, Manchester and Bristol.
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