< Back to News

EFA in the News

News

EFA Partners Serves as Financial Advisor for MetaMedia to Secure Investment by Dimensional Associates

July 26, 2023

New York, NY (July 26, 2023) – EFA Partners, a boutique financial advisory firm that arranges capital and provides strategic consulting services for entertainment and media companies, announced today that it served as the financial and investment advisor to MetaMedia Tech for the company’s significant investment from Dimensional Associates, a private equity firm led by media and technology industry veterans Danny Stein and Joe Samberg. As part of the investment, Danny Stein, the CEO of Dimensional, has joined MetaMedia in the role of Executive Chairman. Jason Brenek and other members of MetaMedia executive management will continue with the company. With this investment, MetaMedia is well-positioned to execute on agreements with existing clients and expand the business through a strong pipeline of potential new clients in North America and internationally.

Founded in 2018, MetaMedia's platform creates a managed, last-mile broadband connection for cinemas that reduces delivery times and removes hundreds of millions in expenses for cinema owners and studios. The platform provides material and measurable environmental benefits over the traditional methods of delivery, while providing best-in-class intellectual property protection. MetaMedia's platform is even more cost-effective for smaller, targeted film releases or platform releases from independent or international film studios. In 2022, MetaMedia delivered more than 350 films to cinemas across its network, allowing content producers and cinemas to save millions of dollars.

“Kenny Favre and the EFA team were instrumental in our company securing this investment from Dimensional,” said Jason Brenek, founder and CEO of MetaMedia. “They worked very closely with our executive team as well as with our existing creditors, shareholders and vendors as we solicited and evaluated various investment alternatives. During this process, they introduced us to Danny Stein and Joe Samberg as potential investors in our business which culminated in the successful investment. We now have a strong balance sheet and we’re excited to expand the business.”

EFA’s principals have over 50 years of collective experience in providing financing solutions for companies in the film and media sectors. They have deep relationships across the industry and also with providers of capital for the industry. For MetaMedia, the EFA team assisted with many financial aspects of the business by working with company management and with the company’s key stakeholders. In addition, their deep relationships in the industry allowed them to introduce potential investors which included the principals of Dimensional.

“Having known Danny, Jason, and the MetaMedia team for many years, we understand that their digital content distribution platform is the next generation for a more streamlined and efficient method to deliver content to movie theaters and other entertainment venues,” said Kenny Favre, Managing Partner and a founding principal of EFA Partners. “The company is now well-capitalized to execute on its growth plans and we look forward to seeing their distribution platform expand in the U.S. and worldwide.”

About EFA Partners

EFA Partners is a boutique financial advisory firm with offices in New York and Atlanta focused on entertainment, media, and technology companies. It provides investment banking services focused on arranging growth capital, mergers and acquisitions, and financial consulting. In media and technology, EFA focuses on companies in film/television post-production, film/television distribution, communications services, recorded music, music publishing, and others. In entertainment, its targeted sectors include movie theaters, family entertainment centers, theme parks, water parks, concert venues, hotels, casinos, sports, and others. Since its inception in 2009, EFA has been retained by nearly 200 clients, has arranged over $1.6 billion of capital, and has advised on over $3.6 billion of additional capital.

About MetaMedia

MetaMedia is the first global cloud-based entertainment platform that delivers movies, premium content and live events to cinemas and other venues around the world. MetaMedia's global cloud-based platform provides for the secure, rapid, targeted and cost-effective delivery of big-screen premium entertainment to cinemas, drive-ins, arenas, and other commercial venues. MetaMedia is headquartered in Los Angeles. 

Leading provider of digital media services for film and television

Background: A seasoned management team who had previously worked with EFA while at their previous companies, formed a new film and television digital media services company and approached EFA to arrange financing for potential acquisition targets.

EFA Process: The company retained EFA to arrange acquisition financing.  EFA ran the process including creating presentation materials and then approaching several banks and specialty lenders.

Result: Three closings including two financings to support two acquisitions and financing to provide working capital.

start quoteWe selected EFA as our advisor due to their financial experience specific to the film and television services sector. The past year has been tremendous for us as we significantly grew our business with EFA arranging financing that allowed us to execute on our growth plans very quickly. end quote

John Suh
Co-Founder and Co-President of  Pixelogic

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT

                                                      Top ten film exhibitor in the U.S. based on screen count with 16 theaters across the Midwest

Background: Approached EFA to arrange financing, to refinance existing debt, and for growth of the business. Also engaged EFA to arrange a sale of the business.

EFA Process: EFA ran the process for all three assignments including preparing presentation materials and creating data rooms to manage the processes. For the debt process, approached several banks, specialty lenders, and REITs. For the sale process, approached strategic film exhibitors, private equity groups, and family offices.

Result: Three closings including a debt facility to refinance all existing senior debt, another debt facility to refinance existing debt as well as provide additional funds to acquire real estate at certain theaters, and then arranged the sale of operations to Kinepolis, a Belgium-based film exhibitor expanding its U.S. platform. 

start quoteThe EFA team has been our trusted financial advisor for the past several years. They have assisted us for a variety of assignments over the years including the refinancing of our debt, reviewing acquisition opportunities, and now the sale of our operations which, when closed, will provide an excellent outcome for our investors.end quote

Paul Glantz
Chairman of Emagine

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT

2nd largest U.S. operator of karting-based entertainment venues with 11 venues in the East and Midwest

Background: Approached EFA to arrange financing to refinance existing debt and for growth of the business. Also engaged EFA to arrange a sale of the business.

EFA Process: EFA ran the process for both assignments which included preparing presentation materials and creating data rooms to manage the processes. For the debt process, EFA approached several banks, specialty lenders, equipment financiers, and REITs. For the sale process, EFA approached strategic entertainment companies, private equity groups, and family offices.

Result: Three closings including a debt facility to refinance all existing senior debt and to provide growth capital which the company utilized to renovate and expand certain sites. Then arranged the sale of operations to K1 Speed, the largest U.S. operator of karting-based entertainment venues. K1 subsequently also acquired the real estate at one venue.

start quoteIt has been a pleasure working with Ralph Willis and the EFA team for the past several years. EFA was previously our advisor and successfully arranged our senior debt. Their understanding of the leisure sector and their industry relationships made them the logical choice to lead our sale effort which culminated in closing the sale to K1. end quote

Michael Greene
CFO and founding principal of Autobahn

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT

Television and motion picture post-production and digital content management services

Background: Company approached EFA seeking refinancing of its debt subsequent to other advisors attempting to do so with a combination of senior debt and equity.

EFA Process: After reviewing its capital structure EFA recommended a debt structure to fully refinance the company's debt.

Result: Closed senior debt facility that refinanced the company's existing debt, which was much more cost-effective than equity.

start quoteThe EFA team proposed a creative strategy to recapitalize Modern VideoFilm that met our needs in a way that was unique and different from what other financial advisory firms proposed to us. We appreciated their understanding of the entertainment industry and EFA's extensive financial relationships and we look forward to continuing our relationship. end quote

Moshe Barkat,
CEO and President of Modern VideoFilm

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT

                                                                              Operator of dine-in cinemas across the U.S.

Background: EFA has been engaged by Alamo corporate and several franchisees over several years for various assignments. These included  arranging construction financing for new venues and running the sale process for various theaters.

EFA Process: EFA ran the process for several assignments which included preparing presentation materials and creating data rooms to manage the processes. For the debt process, EFA approached several banks, specialty lenders, and equipment financiers. For the sale process, EFA approached strategic entertainment companies and private equity groups.

Result: Arranged construction and equipment financing for theaters in Texas, Colorado, and New York. In addition, served as sell-side advisor for two different franchisees and arranged the sale of seven theaters to two different film exhibitors.

start quoteEFA Partners and our team worked uniformly every step of the way to arrange a comprehensive financing solution that delivers greater financial flexibility to our two existing venues while also providing the necessary capital to build our newest Denver location. Brandt Gully, Ralph Willis and the EFA team have a deep understanding of the film exhibition industry and have proven to be reliable long-term partners as we continue pursuing our goals for sustained long-term growth.end quote

Dave Kennedy
Partner at Alamo Drafthouse

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT

 Waterpark in Houston owned by WP Ventures 

 

Background: Approached EFA to arrange financing to refinance existing debt and to finance a new attracion at the venue.

EFA Process: EFA ran the process which included preparing presentation materials and creating data rooms to manage the process. EFA approached several banks, specialty lenders, and REITs. 

Result: Arranged the financing with a bank at a very attractive rate that provided funding to refinance all exisiting senior debt and to provide funds for a new children's waterpark area.

start quoteIt was great working with Ralph Willis and the EFA team as they led our process to arrange financing. Their many years of experience in the leisure sector, plus their extensive relationships with financiers, allowed them to convey the highlights of our park and garnered interest from several financial groups. That provided for a competitive process to negotiate favorable financing terms to meet our financing needs. end quote

Terry Hlavinka
Partner at WP Ventures

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT

Television industry management group formed to manage and operate US TV stations

Background: Huntington approached EFA seeking capital for potential television station acquisitions.

EFA Process: EFA understood that private equity firms and lenders are seeking experienced management teams to back for acquisition opportunities in the television sector.

Result: EFA has introduced the company to several private equity firms as well as senior lenders, resulting in bids for groups of television stations and the company continues to seek other opportunities, with EFA’s assistance.

start quoteWe are acutely aware of the trends that are transforming the local broadcast TV business and have recently begun to explore opportunities to acquire stations. We are very excited about the prospects for the industry and the opportunities to capitalize upon. We are also pleased to have EFA Partners as our financial advisor as their many years of media industry experience and extensive financial relationships will help us accomplish our goal of building a best-in-class station group.

end quote

 

David Tynan,
CEO of Huntington Broadcast Management Group

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT