Zodiak gets Frank with RDF acquisition

Zodiak Entertainment has bought RDF Media Group, one of the UK’s largest independent production and distribution companies, and appointed David Frank as CEO of the newly-merged group.

Frank was previously CEO of RDF. Lorenzo Pellicioli, CEO of De Agostini Group and chairman and CEO of Zodiak will continue to serve as chairman of the new enlarged operation which has annual sales exceeding €500 million.

Zodiak now has a significant presence in more than 20 countries, among which include the UK, the US, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and Russia.

Headquartered in Paris, Zodiak was originally created by De Agostini through the acquisition of the Magnolia Group in Italy/Spain (2007), the Marathon Group in France (2007) and Zodiak Television in territories including Scandinavia, Benelux, Poland, Russia, India and Latin America (2008). De Agostini, a family-owned private Group, is an international financial conglomerate with a holding, De Agostini S.p.A, that coordinates the strategic operating companies – De Agostini Editore (Publishing), Antena 3, jointly with Planeta Corporation, and Zodiak Entertainment (media and communications), Lottomatica Group (gaming) and DeA Capital (finance).

RDF was founded by David Frank in 1993, floated on the London Stock Market (AIM) in 2005 and was subsequently acquired in 2009 by a consortium of the RDF management team and funds managed by Cyrte Investments BV.

As a result of this deal, Zodiak is now 71% owned by De Agostini with the remaining 29% of Zodiak capital owned by Zodiak managers (including RDF managers) and funds managed by Cyrte Investments BV.

Lorenzo Pellicioli, CEO of De Agostini Group, said: “With the acquisition of RDF Media Group the consolidation process of Zodiak is completed. Zodiak, with its strong international footprint and its presence in all entertainment formats, is today one of the main content producers in the world. We are particularly glad to welcome David Frank as the new CEO of Zodiak and we are sure that his experience and his deep expertise will lead Zodiak towards important goals.”

Frank added: “The content business is both changing rapidly and becoming more global by the day and this is a huge opportunity to be at the very heart of this revolution. In my opinion to succeed you need two things