Goodwin Procter advised a consortium of venture investors, which included Greycroft Partners and Upfront Ventures, in connection with Maker Studios’ recently announced $500 million sale to The Walt Disney Company. Maker Studios is also eligible to receive an additional $450 million if certain performance targets are met. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in Disney’s third quarter. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Maker Studios is a next-generation media and technology company, and the world’s largest provider of online video content for Millennials. The company, based in Culver City, Calif, has more than 5.5 billion monthly video views and 380 million subscribers.
Greycroft, founded in 2006, is a venture capital partnership formed to invest in promising digital media companies. The firm invests between $500,000 and $5 million at inception, and will increase on a staged basis to double that amount over time. Greycroft closed its second fund with $130 million in 2010. The firm has offices in Los Angeles, Calif. and New York City.
Upfront Ventures is a venture capital firm headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. The firm primarily invests in Seed and Series A rounds, with investments ranging between $500,000 and $5 million. Upfront Ventures invests across industries, including consumer, digital media, Saas/Cloud, and retail innovation among others. The firm was founded in 1996.
The Goodwin team advising Greycroft and Upfront was led by partners Larry Chu and Caine Moss, and included partner Kelsey Lemaster.
More information about the sale of Maker Studios can be found in the press release. Media coverage of the transaction included articles in The Wall Street Journal, Tech Crunch and Variety.