Started hearing it last week, but the drums are beating harder that Scooter Braun is in early talks to sell his business, Ithaca, to former Disney and Tiktok honcho Kevin Mayer, who was backed by Blackstone. This is one of the three offers being considered.
Braun is the record manager, manager of Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and others, and chairman of Ithaca Holdings. He is also the co-founder of TQ Ventures, Mythos Studios and co-owner of the esports team 100 Thieves.
Sources said the goal is to use the assets to form the basis for building a large company by Mayer, who left Disney after being transferred to replace Bob Iger in favor of Bob Chapek. Mayer had a brief stint on social media platform Tiktok and recently teamed up with Tom Staggs to form Forest Road Acquisition Corp., the listed company that fits their $ 300 million investment vehicle into Beachbody, a home health and fitness business, folded. and Myx Fitness Holdings. This was done through a SPAAC, so a possible deal for Braun would not be part of it, but an acquisition that Blackstone supports. Mayer is highly regarded, and the prospect of taking assets together to build a company can be exciting.
The Braun talks are at an early stage, and Mayer (who did not send an email last week) looked at a number of opportunities before landing on Beachbody. But they talk. Braun was recently in the press to buy Big Machine, which includes Taylor Swift’s song catalog, and then sold it to Shamrock for $ 300 million, causing a controversial clash with the superstar singer. Stay tuned.