Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale‘s RedBird IMI has emerged as the new frontrunner in the race to buy Squid Game: The Challenge maker All3Media.According to the FT, the private equity group is in advanced talks with All3-owners Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Global in a deal worth around $1.26B, which could complete before Christmas. Sources confirmed to Deadline that RedBird is now leading the pack.The investment firm is 75%-owned by Abu Dhabi and was formed last year. RedBird Capital, which owns the other share, has a roster including Skydance Media, the YES Network, and Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Artists Equity. RedBird also teamed with Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia to buy the XFL out of bankruptcy.RedBird IMI is pushing into the UK and is currently trying to buy the Telegraph and Spectator magazines, although that has been held up by regulators amid intense scrutiny of British media ownership rules. Former CNN Worldwide President Zucker and former Goldman Sachs banker Cardinale run the outfit, with ex-NBCUniversal boss Jeff Shell understood to be in advanced talks to join RedBird Capital Partners.RedBird IMI is now in the All3 driving seat but final points of the deal still need to be worked out, and observers say closing a deal before the year is out could be optimistic.Banijay was previously the frontrunner but Deadline has confirmed that it pulled out the race late last week. CEO Marco Bassetti told The Times last year: “We are very active in M&A but we never pay crazy prices.”Others from the sector such as Peter Chernin’s North Road are also no longer in the running. ITV is still monitoring the situation, having said in July that it was not actively exploring a deal but would maintain a watching brief. Goldman Sachs, which Deadline initially reported was vying for All3 alongside Banijay and North Road, is also understood to have exited the process.All revenues rocketed 17% to $1.3B last year, as we revealed in late June. EBITDA shot up by a similar proportion to £100M and total group operating profit was up from £26M to £40M. However, some were understood to have balked at the £1B valuation due to All3’s considerable debt pile, which amounts to some £760M. A previous Reuters story claimed All3 was looking for £1.3B, a whopping 13 times its earnings.Warner Bros. Discovery, RedBird, All3Media and Banijay declined comment. Liberty Global had not responded to Deadline’s comment request by press time.
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