Pending approval of the transaction, which is expected to close by October, Thunderbird will be listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.
Jordan Pinto / Playback Thunderbird Entertainment is set to go public after it was announced Friday afternoon that publicly traded company Golden Secret Ventures is acquiring the Vancouver-based producer.
Under the terms of the deal, Golden Secret and Thunderbird will “complete a business combination pursuant to which Golden Secret will acquire 100% of the shares of Thunderbird via a reverse take-over.” The combined entity will then be listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.
“By gaining access to public markets and new sources of capital, Thunderbird will be able to significantly ramp up its ability to acquire unique and important intellectual property and create compelling content for multiple platforms,” read a statement announcing the transaction, which is expected to close by Oct. 1, 2018 (subject to a number of conditions and approvals).
On completion of the transaction, Thunderbird will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Golden Secret. According to the release, Golden Secret will operate under the Thunderbird brand following the transaction.
Thunderbird generated revenues of $131 million, net income of $3.7 million and adjusted EBITDA of $8.3 million for the nine months ending March 31, 2018. The company said its current production slate for the Thunderbird group of companies includes roughly 20 projects with aggregate budgets in excess of $150 million.
“Taking Thunderbird public will allow the company to continue building its reputation as one of the world’s fastest growing production studios, with a strategy of creating quality content that has both national and international reach,” said Jennifer Twiner McCarron, CEO of Thunderbird.
Thunderbird was formed in 2003 by Tim Gamble and in recent years has expanded through a combination of organic and acquisitive growth. In 2014, Thunderbird acquired factual producer Great Pacific Media, while in 2015 it acquired animation studio Atomic Cartoons.