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22 June 2021
Insider Media today released a profile of award-winning visual effects company Outpost VFX. The firm has worked on a number of high profile studio projects in recent years including Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Netflix hit Black Mirror and the Tom Hanks’ western, News of the World. Outpost, who received growth capital investment from YFM-backed funds earlier this year, has ambitious plans for the next 10 years and recently opened a new studio in Los Angeles.
Duncan McWilliam, CEO and founder of Outpost, discussed their reasoning when choosing YFM out of the dozen private equity firms who initially made an offer. He says in the article: “In some ways, the disruption of Covid actually worked to our advantage, quickly revealing the investors who didn’t really understand the strength of our offering. In contrast, YFM saw the potential of the market, our business and, equally importantly, they share our value system – YFM’s ethics and principled approach, as well as their sustainability and environmental policies, are all a close match with those of Outpost”.
YFM portfolio director Roux Brits is also quoted in the piece. He says “While this investment was made during a particularly challenging time in the market, our investment team understood the industry dynamics and the overall potential due to our experience in this sector. We could see the strength of Outpost’s track record and its established relationships with the major streamers, backed up by a strong management team that share in our values.
“Since the investment, we have supported the business in reviewing its medium to longer term plans, as the industry has started to re-awaken. It has been great to see the energy, ambition and expertise Duncan and his talented team bring to the table. I think they have also responded well to our approach of being a constructive partner. Robin Shenfield, who we introduced as non-executive chair, adds a wealth of experience and an invaluable network, having co-founded The Mill in 1990. His experience in a fast-growing business at the forefront of visual effects, brings real clarity to every decision-making process.”
Read the full story “PE support helps international visual effects business scale-up despite Covid disruption” on Insider Media now.
The picture above is a still from News of the World, © 2021 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.