Yahoo News EU’s MediaInvest Makes First Investment In France’s Logical Content Ventures With Landmark $25M Deal – San Sebastian
The European Commission and European Investment Fund (EIF) have announced the first investment of its fledgeling MediaInvest equity investment instrument aimed at the audiovisual sector.
The EIF said it had approved an equity investment of up to €25 million into Paris-based fund Logical Content Ventures, in the first transaction of the MediaInvest Instrument.
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It said the agreement aims to raise up to €70 million in equity investment in European audiovisual production and distribution companies.
Logical Content Ventures, was launched by the Logical Pictures Group in 2022, initially targeting €100M in fundraising.
Its investments to date have included the Alexandre Aja-produced Night of the Hunted, which is scheduled for release in 2023, and the thriller Berlin Nobody, produced by Ridley Scott. Earlier this year, it also announced a slate financing deal with French studio Pathé.
The MediaInvest deal was officialized at a signing ceremony on the fringes of the San Sebastian Film Festival on Sunday.
Additionally, the EIF also announced and signed three new guarantee agreements under its InvestEU Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS) Guarantee mechanism.
In Spain, state-backed investment fund Compañía Española de Reafianzamiento (CERSA) signed a deal for a €20 million guarantee line. This support is expected to leverage a portfolio of around €230 million of counter-guarantees, enabling access to finance in the country’s cultural and creative sectors.
In a second Spanish accord, EIF signed a €15 mllion guarantee line with SME-focused private mutual guarantee institution CREA.
A third accord was signed with MDDG, a new Luxembourgish fund specialised in investments in the audiovisual sector, mainly financing co-production of films and TV series.
It has been created by producer and film financier David Grumbach and will work in partnership with his existing investment vehicles The Archers and The Archers Production.
The agreement gives access to a €8.25 million credit line to leverage a portfolio of around €50 million in financing.
These accords are expected to leverage a portfolio of up to €425 million.
“I am pleased to see that these agreements have been reached, as they will play a key role in helping secure European audiovisual competitiveness at a global level and boost creative resources in this sector,” Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the Internal Market said in a statement.
“With this, we are also starting to reap the benefits on the MediaInvest instrument which I launched in Cannes last year. I am looking forward to many more agreements and to seeing this tool continue to help EU creative sectors flourish.”
MediaInvest was created as part of the European Union’s post-pandemic €400M Media and Audiovisual Action Plan and was first announced during the Cannes Film Festival in 2022.
It is part of the broader InvestEU Equity Program, which is managed by the EIF and aims to encourage private parties to invest in the audiovisual sector.
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