Peter Cherningroup: Last News

The Chernin Group is leading a $263 million strategic investment in pop culture lifestyle brand Funko, with Bob Iger and sports agent Rich Paul among the stakeholders.

Kurt Badenhausen Longtime sports team owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer have been actively investing in youth sports properties over the last two years. Now, the private equity titans are rolling up those assets into a new parent company, Unrivaled Sports.

The North Road Company, the content studio founded by Peter Chernin, has  acquired an unspecified minority stake in Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions. The deal includes a multi-year agreement for development, production, and sale of unscripted and scripted content. 

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Paramount Global’s Pluto TV recruited Valerie Kaplan, who hails from Hulu, the Chernin Group and HBO, to lead global consumer marketing for the free, ad-supported streaming TV service. Kaplan joins the company as global senior VP, head of consumer marketing for Pluto TV. She most recently was operating partner at Peter Chernin’s investment firm the Chernin Group. Prior to that, Kaplan served as the first chief marketing officer for Headspace, a mindfulness and meditation app. She previously was at Hulu for three and a half years, most recently as VP of growth marketing where she led marketing across the full subscriber lifecycle, including media, acquisition, lifecycle, partner and product marketing.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorThe Chernin Group, Peter Chernin’s investment firm, announced that it is buying 25% of Funko, the pop-culture collectibles company, leading a group of investors that includes former Disney chief Bob Iger.The consortium led by TCG will make a $263 million strategic investment in Funko, acquiring 80% of ACON Investments’ shares in Funko Class A common stock for $21/share. Along with Iger, investors in the consortium include eBay and Rich Paul, CEO and founder of Klutch Sports Group and UTA’s head of sports.Shares of Funko shot up more than 40% in after-hours trading on the investment news as well as Funko’s first-quarter 2022 earnings report topping Wall Street expectations.“We believe Funko is significantly undervalued in the public markets and at this highly attractive entry price provides a runway of opportunity and growth potential,” Peter Chernin said in a statement.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorThe news this week that the first-ever malaria vaccine has been endorsed by the World Health Organization is a welcome milestone in the battle against the pernicious disease that is curable but still kills more than half a million people every year.Peter Chernin, the Chernin Group chief and former chief operating officer of News Corp., is among the industry insiders who have worked to find solutions to getting preventative care and treatment to areas where the mosquito-borne illness remains a major threat. Young children in sub-Saharan Africa are particularly vulnerable.Chernin has co-chaired the nonprofit organization Malaria No More since its founding in 2006.