The deal

A UK digital content creator with more than 125 million social media followers has become the latest acquisition for private equity investment specialists Livingbridge in a deal supported by FRP’s Corporate Finance team.

Founded in 2014 by Jamie Bolding and led by Co-CEOs Melissa Chapman and Nat Poulter, Jungle Creations is a London-based multi-award winning business that creates, produces, and distributes content across seven media brands.

The company’s sub-brands, Jungle Studios and Wild, distribute content through social media platforms including Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, for brands such as Bailey’s, GSK, Heinz and Silverspoon.

Jungle has seen rapid growth in recent years as it capitalises on the shift in advertising spend from traditional to social media, generating revenues of £19.3M and an EBITDA of £2.5M in 2020.
The business was identified as an ideal acquisition for Livingbridge, one of the UK’s leading mid-market PE investors, and a company that FRP has advised on a number of previous deals.

Our Corporate Finance and Debt Advisory teams – lead by Director Bilal Hasan, Partner Mark Farlow, and Senior Manager Chris King – provided full buy-side support on Livingbridge’s investment in Jungle. The teams advised on structuring the deal and project-managed the transaction, while leading a debt raise to part-fund the acquisition and provide working capital facilities.

The successful acquisition of Jungle Creations will see significant investment from Livingbridge to support the social media business in fuelling its growth strategy, including the launch of new brands, increased content output for existing brands, and extensive internationalisation.

Following the successful completion of the deal, Vernan Richards, Associate Director at Livingbridge, said: “Jungle has demonstrated a consistent ability to create content that resonates with a large audience globally across multiple social platforms and verticals. In the current landscape, access to these audiences has become a valuable commodity for brands as they seek to target Gen Z and Millennial audiences.
“Jungle is ideally positioned to take advantage of positive market tailwinds, and we look forward to working with Nat Poulter and Melissa Chapman to cement its role as a scalable and market-leading business.”