Tower Peak Partners sees opportunities in IP and production

As asset management firm Tower Peak Partners readies an IP exploitation strategy, C21 talks to the finance executives looking to invest in the TV production and distribution sector.

At a time when the television industry is suffering the deleterious effects of an on-going major contraction, one might suspect it would not be an opportune time for a private investment firm to deploy capital into the audiovisual space.

However, the negative market forces of the last two or three years have not deterred UK-based Tower Peak Partners (TPP) from embarking on the development of a fund focused on intellectual property (IP) and rights assets, with a particular emphasis on TV production and distribution, as well as sports rights.

Last month, TPP appointed former TV and film producer Elisa Alvares to the role of managing partner and chief investment officer for global rights and IP. Launched in 2024 by entrepreneur and private markets investor Anthony Catachanas, TPP describes itself as a firm that specialises in investing into “industries with high barriers to entry and that are subject to profound structural changes.”

That strategy includes investing in IP rights across media and entertainment, sports, gaming, music, literature, brands and technology. Alvares will lead on establishing a fund focusing initially on IP assets within the spaces of entertainment and sports rights.

Prior to joining TPP, she was the founder of London-based investment advisory firm Jacaranda Group. The Brazilian executive has over 20 years’ experience as a media and entertainment financier, is a qualified lawyer and earlier in her career founded the production company BR-3 Films, which developed a slate of Latin American content. Catachanas, too, has experience in the TV industry, as the co-owner and board member of LA-based indie prodco Storm Pier Productions.

“Having exposure in both our cases to the production side allows us to see the financial positions,” Catachanas says. “It gives us insight into where risk lies and the important elements of managing IP.”

Alvares adds: “Working in production was an important experience in understanding the process of developing copyright and the hurdles that producers face, as well as the challenges of commercially exploiting assets. It’s fascinating because it combines creative with industry. That’s a very delicate balance.

“We are financiers with enormous experience in this space. I myself have been working in entertainment finance and other forms of IP for over 25 years. We know the space, the players and the assets.”

That understanding of the shifting dynamics of the audiovisual space has led Alvares and Catachanas to believe that the multiple challenges currently being faced by the TV industry – including a severe downturn in commissioning, a soft advertising market, widespread consolidation and disruption from YouTube and AI – could be a passing storm.

“The industry is going through an essential recalibration,” says Alvares. “There had been a bubble [in TV production] that was artificially inflated by the war between the streamers. It was extremely beneficial to producers, but we knew that it had to come to an end and that’s what we’re seeing now.

“We see this recalibration as bringing new opportunities for financiers like ourselves that understand the sector, the asset class and are here for the long-term. It’s very much in Tower Peak’s DNA that we are drivers of change.”

Former Goldman Sachs exec Catachanas adds: “Certainly at the top end of the industry the big studios are very financialised, but there is a big cohort that is still somewhat unsophisticated in respect to investment capital. With the changes in the industry that we’re seeing, I was interested in formalising an investment activity at Tower Peak that would be orientated towards deploying capital in this space.

“Elisa and I saw that a lot of institutional investors were also taking notice and wanted to increase their participation in the industry as well. It’s very much the role of an asset manager to facilitate this.”

Within the TV sector, the fund will primarily target studios and content distributors with proven track records that own the rights to strong IP assets. By hand-picking and curating strategic partnerships with those companies, TPP will work with institutional investors to deploy capital and share in the long-term exploitation of those IP brands.

The investment firm, which also has offices in New York, Rio de Janeiro and Panama City, is aiming to launch the fund later this year and says that it is not looking to interfere with the creative process of strategic partners they work with. “It’s a collaboration – we’re not here to replace producers or marketing executives,” says Alvares. “We don’t intend to become a creative powerhouse. That’s not our vocation.

“We would provide the financial muscle and create long-term partnerships where we look to align interests and allow our partners to do what they do best, while developing their businesses into greater and more stable going concerns.

“We’re looking at areas of high growth and properties that will have longevity. In the case of TV series, we’d look to finance beyond a first series. In the first cycle of the strategy, we would focus on the IP rights themselves as opposed to investing in companies. That’s very important to understand.”