Source: George Pimentel / Getty
The SpringHill Company, created last year by LeBron James and his longtime friend Maverick Carter, raised its valuation to $725 million with a “minority stake” which was recently sold to private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners. Nike, Fenway Sports Group, and Epic Games were also involved in the deal, but James and Carter will retain a controlling interest in the entertainment and media company.
SpringHill began as the conglomeration of three pre-existing companies created by James and Carter, and its funding was backed by a $100M investment from the likes of Elisabeth Murdoch and Guggenheim Partners. Thanks to this new deal, SpringHill’s appraisement is now more than sixfold than the cash infusion which created it.
“We started this company with the tagline ‘More Than an Athlete,’ which still defines everything we do to this very day,” Carter said in a statement Thursday. “We are an incredible team of athletes, artists, writers, designers, musicians and countless other creators. With this new group of investors who are the very best in their respective industries we are going to be able to empower our community and every creator to do their most inspiring work and achieve their most ambitious dreams.”
Per The Hollywood Reporter, SpringHill already has a number of projects on deck and a pair of “first-look” agreements to assist with their development: one is a TV deal with ABC Studios, and the other is a film deal with Universal Studios.
RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale released a statement speaking on his hopefulness about the deal. “Maverick and LeBron have created an impressive media content platform led by a creative leadership team that has built a unique mission-driven brand,” he said. “Our partnership with SpringHill should enable us collectively to optimize that mission with scalable capital and a business building mentality that will continue to elevate more diverse voices and a drive towards greater empowerment.”
