Zinc Media raises $4.6m to fuel growth plans across US and UK

Emergency Helicopter Medics

Factual production outfit Zinc Media Group has raised £3.5m ($4.6m) after a new share issue, with the investment set to be used to fuel expansion plans across the UK.

The funding, from existing shareholders and new but unnamed institutional investors, will be used to further its reach across the UK and support plans to grow in the US. The group is home to factual producers Blakeway, Blakeway North, Brook Lapping, Films of Record, Reef, and Tern Television.

The investment, which equates £3.2m after associated costs, will also be spent on introducing new post-production technology across its UK sites and expanding its marketing agency Zinc Communicate.

Zinc CEO Mark Browning, the former ITN Productions managing director who joined in late 2018, said the additional funding highlighted that investors were “keen to back our future expansion.”

The Trans Women Athlete Dispute

He added: “It means we can further invest in creative talent; invest in our nations and regions operations; and invest in technology to help fuel Zinc’s overall growth.

“We experienced a huge uplift in demand for our out-of-London TV work last year, up 32% year on year, a demand we expect to grow even further. We are one of the UK’s very few multi-nation companies, so are a perfect partner for commissioners looking for high-quality ‘nations and regions’ content.

“As well as strengthening our TV footprint in the UK, we are also securing more US commissions, so need to invest further behind this growth. We have a fantastic senior creative team and this additional funding will help us extend that team even further. There is no better time for us to be investing in our creative growth.”

Zinc Media was established as a new corporate brand for UK-based Ten Alps in 2016, after the company was recapitalised in 2015 following an uncertain period wrestling with debt. At that stage, founder Bob Geldof exited the business.

The rebranded group continued its acquisition activities, picking up firms including Tern Television and corporate video producer Straker Films. It operates in Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester and London, and has a growing office in Bristol.

Its shows include Brook Lapping’s Inside Europe: Ten Years Of Turmoil for BBC Two, Blakeway’s Lost Cities With Albert Lin for National Geographic, and Fighter Pilots: The Real Top Gun for ITV.

Other IP on the slate includes Films of Record’s The Trans Women Athlete Dispute With Martina Navratilova for BBC One and Tern Television’s Emergency Helicopter Medics for More 4.