The North Road Co., the global production studio roll-up formed by Peter Chernin last year, has received an $150 million investment from Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
The funding builds on the capital North Road secured at launch, which includes up to $500 million from longtime Chernin partner Providence Equity Partners and $300 million in debt financing from Apollo.
“QIA’s investment enables North Road to capitalize even further on the growing demand for premium, independent content,” Chernin, who serves as North Road’s CEO, said in a statement. Mohammed Al-Sowaidi, QIA’s chief investment officer of Americas, commented, “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.”
North Road consolidated Chernin Entertainment, the film and TV studio whose credits include the “Planet of the Apes” trilogy, “Ford v Ferrari,” “Hidden Figures” and “New Girl,” with Connor Schell’s Words + Pictures, the documentary production shingle founded by the creators of “30 for 30,” “The Last Dance” and “O.J.: Made in America.” North Road also includes unscripted production firms Kinetic Content, Left/Right, Half Yard and 44 Blue Productions — formerly part of Red Arrow Studios, which Chernin acquired from ProSiebenSat.1 — as well as a London-based international division focused on global acquisitions and co-productions led by industry veterans Jan Frouman and Kristin Jones.
North Road’s divisions currently have more than 85 active productions in the works. Those include a new season of the Netflix reality hit “Love Is Blind”; “Luther,” starring Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo and Andy Serkis, which will premiere on Netflix this spring; and a new season of Apple TV+’s “Truth Be Told,” starring Oscar winner Octavia Spencer.
“QIA is a valued, long-term partner, and we look forward to working with them alongside Peter and the North Road team,” said Davis Noell, senior managing director of Providence Equity Partners, North Road’s lead investor. “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.”