Unicorn to advise superheroes at Teshkeel Media Group - Unicorn announces US $25 m capital raising for TMG via private placement
Bahrain, 27 September 2006 - eshkeel Media Group, KSC (TMG) announced today a comprehensive agreement with Unicorn Investment Bank (UIB) to advise and lead a second phase of capital raising. The agreement was announced by Majid Al-Sayed Bader Al-Refai, Managing Director and CEO of Unicorn and Naif Al-Mutawa, CEO of TMG.UIB will underwrite and assist TMG in the raising of US$25 million for the offering. TMG’s current investor base includes large GCC institutions - the Commercial Bank of Kuwait, Bayan Investment Company, Safat Investment Company, Al-Aswak Company and retail group MH Shaya Company - as well as a consortium of private investors from the United States, Mexico, China, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Kuwait.
Headquartered in Kuwait, TMG develops and publishes comics and other children’s entertainment for the Arab speaking world. They are the exclusive Arabic translation partners of Marvel Entertainment, Archie Comics and DC Comics for the Middle East and North Africa and have developed and launched their own award-winning series, ‘The 99′, incorporating the world’s first group of superheroes based on Islamic culture. Stories are woven around 99 characters endowed with Islamic traits, with each character personifying a particular Islamic attribute. The series has received critical acclaim from the international media including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the Guardian.
Yasser Abbady, Director of Corporate Finance at Unicorn, commented, “TMG have identified and successfully developed unique content for the young, highlighting Islam’s rich culture and heritage. With a substantial proportion of the region’s population under the age of fifteen, TMG’s management vision coupled with their award-winning concept of ‘The 99′ makes this a very attractive investment indeed.”
Naif Al-Mutawa, CEO of TMG, said, “We’re extremely excited and proud to be working with a world class Islamic investment bank such as Unicorn. Unicorn fits our company needs at an operational level, a Shari’ah-compliant level and a cultural level. It is an added boost to ‘The 99′ superheroes.”
“This Ramadan, the world has new heroes,” he added.