Puck confirmed Wednesday that it is in advanced talks for an investment from RedBird Capital Partners that would make the firm its leading investor.
The potential all-cash transaction would value Puck at around $250 million and allow its existing institutional investors to sell their stakes to RedBird Capital Partners, Reuters first reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the talks. Puck confirmed the discussions in a statement to the news service. The deal would not include shares held by Puck’s founders or journalists.
“Puck is in advanced discussions about a strategic recapitalization to accelerate growth that would make RedBird our leading investor,” a spokesperson for Puck told TheWrap. “Puck’s journalist-centric model, commitment to premium I.P., direct audience relationships and journalistic independence are at the core of its business model and that will not change.”
Founded in 2021 by former New York Times and Vanity Fair journalist Jon Kelly and a group of veteran reporters, Puck publishes subscription newsletters covering Hollywood, media, finance, politics and fashion. Its journalists receive equity in the company and a portion of the subscription revenue they generate.
That model encourages Puck’s writers to build individual followings while giving them a direct financial stake in the publication’s growth. The company’s value is closely connected to those individual writers and the paying audiences they attract.
Puck has approximately 50,000 paying subscribers, according to Reuters. The company has previously raised roughly $20 million from investors including TPG’s growth arm, Standard Investments and J. Rothschild Capital Management.
The prospective investment follows Puck’s acquisition of Air Mail last year in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $16 million. The transaction brought the digital magazine founded by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter under Puck’s umbrella. RedBird Capital Partners became an investor in Puck through that deal.
RedBird Capital Partners’s other media and entertainment investments include Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity and EverPass Media, the commercial sports distributor that DAZN agreed to acquire Wednesday. The investment firm is also a principal financial backer of Paramount Skydance’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
RedBird Capital Partners immediately responded to TheWrap’s requests for additional comment.
