Edge launches £10m fund for UK production

Edge Investments said today it plans to sink £10 million (US$12.5 million) into UK TV production.

Private investment business Edge said it will offer UK producers an advantage over trade backers who will often seek to take international distribution rights as part of their investment.

It will, it said, offer “clean equity capital” with a view to driving growth and then exiting. The London-based business said it typically wants to invest in creative businesses with revenues of about £1 million.

Edge offers a distinct advantage as an investment partner in a market dominated by trade investors: rather than looking to take distribution rights alongside our investment Edge can offer clean equity capital wholly aligned with management’s growth ambitions, and will provide mentoring and support to investee SMEs.

“We want to meet television production management teams who are looking for a pure equity investor focused on growth and an eventual exit,” said Joanna Smith, investment manager at Edge.

“We’re looking to invest in a number of strong, creative firms which can demonstrate a variety of broadcaster relationships, with at least one to two commissions running through the company to date.”

Edge, which has invested in Poppy Cat and The Clangers in the past, launched a £40 million fund last year, the Creative Enterprise Fund.

“My team at Edge has significant experience working in the creative industries,” said David Glick, CEO of Edge Investments (pictured).

“We can translate the vision and ambition of creative executives into language that investors, and eventually buyers, understand, delivering vital growth financing for the businesses we support, freeing up talented people to generate ideas, to create great television, to realise their potential, and in due course maximising their wealth by getting the best value for their creative output.”

Glick, a veteran entertainment industry dealmaker, launched Edge in 2006. His boardroom team includes Elton John’s manager, Frank Presland; chairman of DreamWorks Classics predecessor Entertainment Rights Robin Miller; and music impresario Harvey Goldsmith.