Patrician Asset Management has launched the Citizen Entertainment Fund to focus on debt investments in media companies. CEF’s first investor is a major European public company.
The fund is a low volatility, non-correlated debt fund and is managed by Film industry veteran’s David Forbes and Brian Gilmore. CEF will focus on providing loans for print and advertising, production, completion, and the broader media space, designed to generate investor returns of 16% or more after fees.
David Forbes, the Senior Portfolio Manager, has 30 years’ experience managing funds for Fox, MGM/UA, Orion Pictures, and Columbia has generated revenue for the studios in excess of USD4 billion. The fund’s primary focus will be on Prints and Advertising but will also be able to take advantage of other opportunities in the media space on an opportunistic basis. According to Forbes, "changes in GAAP accounting and studio philosophy have created a platform for this fund unlike at any time in the past."
"The credit crisis has had a major impact on the media community," says Brian Gilmore, Patrician’s CEO, "current market conditions severely hamper the completion of many new projects. Media companies are monetizing assets at attractive investment yields. Our goal is to step in and take advantage of the large supply of excellent investments that commercial banks have failed to service."
Patrician’s current goal is to raise USD100 million for a pipeline of identified Hollywood projects.
The fund’s capacity is USD1bn.
