Vancouver’s Thunderbird Entertainment has brought in sales specialist ACF Investment Bank to aid its ongoing strategic review process.

The review is part of a cooperation agreement between Thunderbird and minority stakeholder Voss Capital, which was struck in January after a public proxy battle over the board of directors’ strategic vision for the media company.

In addition to a number of board member changes, the agreement called for the formation of an advisory committee to assess Thunderbird’s “capital allocation strategy and evaluate all strategic opportunities to maximize value.”

“Our mission at Thunderbird is to become the next major global studio and working with ACF allows us to strategically review all options for growth and evaluate any inbound expressions of interest received by the company,” said CEO and chair Jennifer Twiner McCarron (pictured) in a statement.

ACF is based in the U.S. and the U.K. and “specializes in selling, buying, fundraising, securitization, and pre/post deal services for brands and businesses in media and entertainment,” according to a news release.

The investment bank notably served as an advisor on the sale of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit IP rights to Swedish media company Embracer Group. It has also advised in M&A deals, including SK Global’s purchase of unscripted producer Critical Content and Netflix’s acquisition of U.K. production company Broke & Bones. It has advised on more than 100 completed deals valued at more than US$6 billion, said the release.

Voss, a Houston-based hedge fund, engaged in a proxy battle with Thunderbird in late 2022, calling for a change in the board of directors while claiming that the board had “failed to take advantage of key opportunities for value-creation.”

Among its core complaints had been Thunderbird’s M&A strategy, stating that it should present itself as an acquisition target, rather than to acquire other companies. At the time the cooperation agreement was announced, Thunderbird stated that there would be “no assurance that a transaction will result” from the strategic review.

Thunderbird Entertainment is the parentco of unscripted prodco Great Pacific Media and animation studio Atomic Cartoons. It recently established a scripted content hub in L.A. to increase its premium scripted development and production slate.

“Canada’s benevolent environment, creative content and production values are strategically attractive for expanding TV production groups and there has been an increased focus on Canadian content following the success of numerous new shows that have won multiple awards in recent years,” said ACF managing director Richard Gray. “[Thunderbird’s] growth has put it in an incredibly strong market position, and we look forward to working with Jennifer and the team to assist with the next phase of the company’s growth.”

Image courtesy of Thunderbird Entertainment