Frankfurt a. M. — Funds advised by KKR have announced the purchase of i&u TV. i&u is a German television production company founded by Günther Jauch for both information and entertainment formats. The company produces TV shows such as “stern TV,” “Klein gegen Groß,” “Die Ultimative Chartshow” and “Menschen, Bilder, Emotionen” for Germany’s highest-reach TV stations. In addition to Günther Jauch (photo), i&u works with show hosts such as Barbara Schöneberger, Thomas Gottschalk, Kai Pflaume, Jörg Pilawa and Oliver Pocher.
i&u is to complement the independent group of companies for film and TV content that KKR is building around Tele München Gruppe and Universum Film, which it already bought in February 2019.
“After almost 20 years of successful work at i&u, my thanks go to all employees. Andreas Zaik will continue to provide continuity as Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief. I, too, will be available to the company for several more years, both in front of and behind the camera. I am delighted that i&u will now be part of a large media network. I have known and appreciated Fred Kogel for almost 40 years. With him at the helm of a powerful platform and the strong shareholder KKR, new opportunities will open up for i&u in the TV market and beyond,” said Günther Jauch.
Next stage of development reached
Philipp Freise, Partner and Head of the European Investment Team for Technology, Media and Telecommunications at KKR, added: “With i&u, a top-class production company with a great team is joining our media company. We are consistently implementing our ambitious plans and making great strides in our plan to build a powerful content house in the German film and TV industry.”
Following the completion of this transaction, the independent audiovisual content platform will comprise Tele München Gruppe, Universum Film and i&u. Together, the companies represent the value chain of the TV and film industry: They buy and produce feature films, series and TV shows and handle the rights exploitation of this content in cinemas, TV stations, digital services and home entertainment. In doing so, the companies also draw on market-leading license libraries. Their independence means they can serve all customers with high-quality content — from digital streaming providers such as Netflix or Amazon Prime to public and private TV stations. The management team around CEO Fred Kogel is currently preparing the operational launch and further expansion of the media company.
Advisor KKR: Hengeler Mueller
Active partners are Dr. Sebastian Schneider (M&A/Corporate Law, Berlin), Dr. Maximilian Schiessl (M&A, Düsseldorf), Dr. Stefan Richter (M&A/Corporate Law), Dr. Albrecht Conrad (M&A/TMT) (both Berlin), Dr. Christian Schwandtner (M&A/Corporate), Dr. Carl-Philipp Eberlein (Capital Markets) (both Düsseldorf), Dr. Jan D. Bonhage (Public Commercial Law, Berlin), Dr. Thorsten Mäger (Antitrust, Düsseldorf), Dr. Martin Klein (Tax) and Hendrik Bockenheimer (Labor Law) (both Frankfurt), Counsel Fabian Seip (TMT, Berlin) and Eckbert Müller (Labor Law, Frankfurt) and Associates Alexander Bekier, Dr. Hermann Dahlitz, Jonas Brost, Marvin Vesper-Gräske, Dr. Tobias Begemann (all M&A, Berlin), Marius Marx, Maximilian Reischl (both Tax, Frankfurt), Dr. Anja Balitzki (Antitrust), Dr. Deniz Tschammler (both Düsseldorf) and Dr. Charlotte Riemann (Berlin) (both Public Commercial Law).