The Foundry, the British VFX software firm best known for its widely-used compositing software Nuke, has been acquired for a deal worth $312 million (Ł200 million). The UK-based private equity firm HgCapital closed a deal to acquire majority ownership from investor The Carlyle Group. Earlier, the private-equity firm bought the stake from its rival firm Advent in a deal valuing it at around $116 million (Ł75 million).
“Knowing the direction we plan to take The Foundry, we identified that HgCapital was the ideal partner to build on what The Carlyle Group have helped us achieve,” said The Foundry, CEO, Bill Collis. “Nic and his team have such deep software experience, take a long term view on investing and have an amazing track record in taking already solid companies to even greater levels of success. HgCapital achieve this through investment, both in R&D and people, with a deep respect for customer loyalty and satisfaction.”
Formed in 1996, The Foundry developed VFX plug-ins until it was sold to Digital Domain in 2007. After getting acquired and as a subsidiary of the VFX house, the firm took over development of Nuke, which at the time was an in-house tool for Digital Domain. Collis and his partner, co-founder Simon Robinson, organized a management buyout that included the Nuke technology. A majority stake was sold to Carlyle in 2011. The company currently boasts of 20,000 clients with names like Pixar, Warner Bros, Sony Pictures and many more using its software for their visually powerful films.
With the latest deal, Collis said it’s “business as usual” but he hopes to grow more quickly with HgCapital’s support, with both acquisitions and in-house development.
“With this deal, we remain one of the few independent companies solely focused on creative industries. This lets us pursue our best-in-class strategy, prioritizing research and innovation; and teaming with other companies to create powerful collective solutions,” further stated Collis.
The core products include Modo, a 3D creator, and Nuke, which assists visual effects producers. The company has also partnered with Weta Digital, the post-film-production house owned by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, to create a 3D painting tool. The company is now pursuing the newer technologies and showcased new tools for Nuke aimed at the virtual reality content production at the recent National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show.
HgCapital, managing partner, Nic Humphries, hoped The Foundry would grow 30 per cent a year following the deal, compared with its current 20 per cent rate.
“There are so many elements about The Foundry that we find attractive, not the least of which is the core management team,” said Nic, in a statement. “Bill and his team love nothing more than running head on into the challenges facing creative industries, developing exciting disruptive technologies that have huge potential.”