The van Tulleken Company advises Amaze TV on new “super-indie” partnership

- Amaze partners with D&D to form new European media group
- Significant investment from Palamon Capital Partners

(11 October 2007 ) The van Tulleken Company (“van Tulleken”), the leading international corporate finance advisers in media, information and technology, is pleased to announce it has advised the shareholders of Amaze TV (“Amaze”), the UK factual entertainment producer, on the formation of a new European media group backed by substantial investment from Palamon Capital Partners. The deal completed on the 11th October 2007.

The new “super-indie” group, yet to be named, will be formed through Amaze’s partnership with D&D, one of Europe’s leading independent production companies and the winner of the 2006 Golden Rose D’Or Montreux. The partnership will create a significant pan-European media group that will focus on creating, producing and distributing innovative factual and “reality” programming across all genres. 

Amaze founder, Remy Blumenfeld will be Chief Creative Officer of the group, focusing on the UK and North American markets.  D&D’s co-founders Marc Dullaert and Paul Dumas will join him on the executive board. Remy Blumenfeld will continue to serve as CEO of Amaze, which he set up last year after he sold his previous firm Brighter Pictures, which now makes Big Brother, to Endemol.

Van Tulleken also advised Amaze on its first round of funding completed in December 2006.  Since then Amaze has attracted noted executives Sham Sandhu (Make Me A Supermodel), Bill Hobbins (Scrapheap Challenge) and head of development, Jonathan Stadlen (Dancing With The Stars). The company has programmes in development with several UK broadcasters including I’ve Got Your Number, which has been optioned in four territories and has had other formats optioned in the US, France, Germany and Australia.

Palamon will invest significantly in the partnership and also acquire significant stakes in Amaze and D&D. The investment marks Palamon’s eighth investment in its second fund, Palamon European Equity II, L.P., which was raised in 2006 and has commitments of €670 million.

Craig Muir, van Tulleken Director, London, said:
“We are delighted to have advised Amaze TV over the last 12 months on its formation, initial funding, growth and transformation.  Our expertise in the media sector allowed us to assist Amaze in finding the best partners to support its strategy.  This new partnership with D&D, and investment from Palamon, will allow substantial opportunities for expansion in content generation and distribution in key markets in Europe and the US.” 

Remy Blumenfeld, CEO and Founder of Amaze TV, said:
"I worked with the The van Tulleken Company on the sale of Brighter Pictures to Endemol in 2001 and their experience and contacts in this sector made them an obvious choice to work with at Amaze.”

For further information:

Craig Muir
The van Tulleken Company:                                       
Tel: +44 207 235 1099

John Kiely / Libby Young
Smithfield
Tel: +44 (0)20 7360 4900

Notes to Editors

The van Tulleken Company (www.vantulleken.com) is a leading international corporate finance adviser on mergers, acquisitions and strategic developments in the media, information and technology industries.  The company has offices in London and New York, serving large international companies and small and medium sized firms in the UK, Europe and the US.  Clients include corporations, financial sponsors, media executives and entrepreneurs. Companies that have retained The van Tulleken Company on an ongoing or assignment basis include Wolters Kluwer; The von Holtzbrinck Group; VNU; Reed Elsevier; Hearst and Pearson.  The skills and experience of the team are virtually unmatched in the industry, having worked on over 50 publishing and information deals in the last few years, representing both sellers and acquirers.  Van Tulleken advised Remy Blumenfeld and his fellow shareholders in Brighter Pictures on the sale of Brighter Pictures to Endemol in 2001.

Blumenfeld and his team at Amaze TV (www.amaze.tv) have conceived and produced more than 50 original TV series, many of which have sold around the world, often making headline news.  These include There's Something About Miriam (Sky One) in which six lads unwittingly woo a trans-sexual; Get A New Life, the life swap show which ran for five series on BBC2; Tabloid Tales with Piers Morgan on BBC1 and Gay, Straight or Taken which is currently airing around the world and on Lifetime in the US.  Brighter Pictures television Ltd., the company Blumenfeld co-founded in a spare bedroom in Brixton in 1991, sold to Endemol in 2001 and today produces Big Brother. Before founding Brighter Pictures, Blumenfeld worked for six years as an entertainment reporter in New York where he produced and presented the award winning, nationally-syndicated Remy’s People and The Remy Report.

D&D (www.ddtv.nl) is one of Europe’s leading independent production companies and the winner of the 2006 Golden Rose D’Or Montreux. The company specialises in drama, entertainment and factual entertainment for television as well as new media channels. The company is among the largest players in its sector in Belgium and the Netherlands and has strong niche positions in Germany and France.  In the Netherlands the group has recently acquired Waterbeek Media one of the trailblazers in the area of sponsored cross-media communication (combining print media, Internet, live events, TV, etc.) and sponsored TV (non-spot TV.) This is the group’s third takeover in a short period of time. The group earlier acquired the pioneering TV production companies Palazzina and Noordkaap TV Producties.