LOS ANGELES—Funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management have acquired FilmRise, an independent digital streaming content distributor, and merged it with Shout! Studios to create Radial Entertainment. The new company will have a library of 70,000 movies and episodes.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. OakTree originally invested in Shout! Studios in 2023.
“Oaktree is excited to bring together two incredible Film & TV content distribution companies in FilmRise and Shout!,” Jared Frandle, managing director for Oaktree's Special Situations strategy, said. “We believe combining these companies under the Radial umbrella creates a world-class film and TV media business. It’s an extraordinary combination that we believe brings the unique scale needed to compete and win in the rapidly evolving landscape of digital entertainment and streaming media. Based on our extensive work in the space, we continue to seek opportunities to invest and grow our catalog of film and TV titles. To that end, Oaktree is committed to working with Radial's best-in-class management team to drive significant organic and M&A-driven growth going forward as we build Radial into a premium brand name in the media & entertainment space.”
Garson Foos, CEO and co-founder of Shout! Studios, will become CEO of Radial Entertainment and Danny Fisher, CEO and co-founder of FilmRise, will become executive chairman.
"We have long admired the FilmRise business and its executives, and have held a steadfast belief that a strategic transaction between FilmRise and Shout! would create an entertainment business of exciting scale,” Radial CEO Garson Foos said. “This is a highly additive merger between two very complementary organizations, and we have strong conviction in the incremental value that Radial will bring to our partners and dedicated consumer fan base. We will ensure that the spirit and soul of Shout! will flourish in this new organization and are thrilled to collaborate with the FilmRise team in taking the combined business to the next level.”
Since its original investment in Shout! Studios in 2023, Oaktree has been an active partner in supporting Shout!'s strategic vision to grow its content portfolio by acquiring entertainment companies and major content libraries.
Salem Partners acted as the exclusive financial and investment banking adviser to Oaktree and Shout! Studios. Guggenheim Securities acted as the exclusive financial and investment banking adviser to FilmRise. Greenberg Traurig acted as exclusive legal advisers to Shout! Studios. Manatt, Phelps & Phillips acted as exclusive legal advisers to FilmRise.
