Producer, distributor, and channel operator Blue Ant Media has bought Racat Group, the media firm set up by former Fox Networks Group president and Rupert Murdoch lieutenant David Haslingden. Under the cash-plus-equity deal, Haslingden will retain a significant stake in the enlarged Blue Ant.The agreement gives Toronto-based Blue Ant natural-history producer NHNZ, Australian production company Northern Pictures, and Singapore’s Beach House Pictures. It also gets DirecTV joint-venture kids net ZooMoo and mobile-games business Runaway Play.The deal has been a long...
Blue Ant Media
Michael
MacMillan
CEO / Co-Founder
MacMillan co-built Canada’s Alliance Atlantis Communications, selling it to CanWest and Goldman Sachs for C$2.3 billion just before the credit crunch in 2007. He started Blue Ant four years later, and it has evolved from a scrappy startup to a global media company based in Toronto. Blue Ant’s Studios division created shows such as “Canada’s Drag Race” and “9/11 Kids” and houses labels including Beach House Pictures. Distribution arm Blue Ant International offers a huge slate of 4K natural-history content. Its fast-growing channels business operates linear and FAST services such as HistoryTime on LG. A member of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Order of Canada, he also co-founded Ontario’s Closson Chase Vineyards.