 | |
| Private Ownership, Limited liability company | |
| Industry | Private Equity |
| Founded | 1989 by Andrew Banks and Royce Yudkoff |
| Headquarters | 888 Boylston Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Products | Investments, private equity funds |
| Total assets | $12.0 billion |
Number of employees | 41 |
| Website | www.ABRY.com |
ABRY Partners is a private equity firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts that focuses on investments in media. Since 1989, the firm has completed over $62.0 billion of leveraged transactions and other private equity and mezzanine investments, representing investments in more than 550 properties.
A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leveraged buyout, venture capital, and growth capital. Often described as a financial sponsor, each firm will raise funds that will be invested in accordance with one or more specific investment strategies.
In finance, mezzanine capital is any subordinated debt or preferred equity instrument that represents a claim on a company's assets which is senior only to that of the common shares. Mezzanine financings can be structured either as debt or preferred stock.
Contents
The company's name derives from the initials of its two founders, Andrew Banks and Royce Yudkoff. [1]
Current and previous areas of investment include cable television, publishing, radio and television broadcasting, and other media and communications sectors. [2] Notable past, present, and future investments include Act III Broadcasting, Cygnus Business Media, Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Muzak Holdings, Legendary Pictures, Consolidated Theatres, F+W Media, Language Line, Citadel Broadcasting, Monitronics and RCN Corporation.
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fiber-optic cables. This contrasts with broadcast television, in which the television signal is transmitted over the air by radio waves and received by a television antenna attached to the television; or satellite television, in which the television signal is transmitted by a communications satellite orbiting the Earth and received by a satellite dish on the roof. FM radio programming, high-speed Internet, telephone services, and similar non-television services may also be provided through these cables. Analog television was standard in the 20th century, but since the 2000s, cable systems have been upgraded to digital cable operation.
Act III Broadcasting was a company that owned several television stations that started as independents, and later became Fox affiliates. The stations were located in medium-sized DMA's (markets) and were primarily UHF stations. Act III Broadcasting was in business from 1985 to 1994 when it was sold to ABRY Partners for $500 million. Legendary TV producer Norman Lear owned a controlling stake in Act III Broadcasting through his company Act III Communications.
Cygnus Business Media is a diversified microcap business-to-business media company, providing 1.7 million readers annually, according to the company, with many business media options, including business publications, trade shows, online opportunities, custom publications, directories, buyer's guides, advertising card decks, research and more.
