‘Winx Club’ maker Rainbow Group is receiving a cash injection
Italy’s Rainbow Group, the company led by Iginio Straffi – creator of the popular animated franchise ‘Winx Club’ – has announced a partnership with a group of Italian equity investors providing a cash injection of around €90 million ($92 million).
Under the deal, TEC Movie – which is part of a unit within Italy’s top bank Mediobanca called the Equity Club – will own a stake of around 40% in Rainbow.
The deal “marks a strategic step for Rainbow to further consolidate its position as a leading Italian TV production and animation house with a view to future global growth,” a Rainbow statement said.
Rainbow Group is now “looking to consolidate its international leadership and explore strategic mergers and acquisitions involving major intellectual property assets as well as companies in Italy and globally that share synergies with the group,” the statement said.
Straffi founded Rainbow in 1995, which has grown into Italy’s largest animation company and the only one that can compete with Hollywood. His ‘Winx Club’ franchise about six trendy fairies has enchanted girls in more than 150 countries and generated billions. In 2015, Rainbow bought Vancouver-based animation studio Bardel Entertainment and in 2017 acquired control of Italy’s Iven Group, made up of production company Colorado Film and talent agency Moviement. Colorado has since produced several live-action international hits, such as the young adult romantic drama “The Tearsmith” and the revenge thriller “My Name Is Vendetta,” both made for Netflix.
“This deal will allow us to make important investments, develop new shows and continue to leverage the talent and creativity of our [our] Made in Italy
to the world,” Straffi said in the statement.
“Since our inception, we have worked to grow Rainbow into a showcase of Italian excellence on the world stage, with an emphasis on innovation, quality and the ability to create authentic emotional connections with audiences,” he added.
Filippo Penatti, co-CEO of TEC Movie, said: “We are pleased to enter into a new partnership with a visionary entrepreneur like Iginio Straffi and with the entire Rainbow Group, realizing its strategic goals and ambitious future of organic and acquisitive sharing growth.”
New projects in the Rainbow pipeline include a lavish live-action series adaptation of Hugo Pratt’s “Corto Maltese” graphic novels. The internationally known comics follow the title character, a reckless sea captain whose adventures take him around the world.
