Chernin’s North Road receives $150m investment from Qatar Investment Authority

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has invested US$150m in The North Road Company, the media and investment firm launched by Peter Chernin last summer.

Peter Chernin

The investment will fuel the company’s ongoing expansion and adds to the sizeable capital investment that propelled its launch, including US$500m from Providence Equity Partners and US$300m in debt financing from Apollo.

North Road officially launched last July at the same time as Chernin revealed the US$200m acquisition of the US assets of Red Arrow Studios from ProSiebenSat.1.

The company comprises three separate divisions: The Chernin Group’s scripted film and TV business, Chernin Entertainment, led by Jenno Topping; Red Arrow Studios’ US business; and non-scripted studio Words + Pictures, launched by Connor Schell, Chernin and Jesse Jacobs in 2021.

North Road said it currently has more than 85 active productions in the works, including new seasons of Love Is Blind from US-based Kinetic Content and Apple TV+’s Truth Be Told, plus a new Luther movie for Netflix starring Idris Elba.

“QIA’s investment enables North Road to capitalise even further on the growing demand for premium, independent content,” said Chernin, who serves as CEO of North Road.

“Building on the support from Providence Equity, we have already been able to bring together some of the highest quality suppliers of film and TV content, led by some of the best creative executives in the business. This investment fuels our continuing strategy to expand via organic and inorganic growth initiatives globally.”

Mohammed Al-Sowaidi, QIA’s chief investment officer for the Americas, said: “QIA is delighted to support the expansion of the North Road Company, a market-leading media firm. This investment underpins our strategy to invest in innovative media and technology companies around the world and advances our long-term partnership with The Chernin Group.”

Davis Noell, senior MD of Providence Equity Partners, added: “We continue to see a tremendous opportunity in a fragmented industry to build a leading global, independent content studio, and this additional capital will help us in our plans to continue to aggressively grow North Road and pursue strategic acquisitions.”