Business

MediaBridge Capital Advisors Adds Industry Leaders to Team (MESA)

MediaBridge Capital Advisors announced that it has added four new senior members to its team in order to more effectively support its leading advisory services in M&A and corporate financing for firms in broadcast, streaming, pro audio, pro AV, and related industries.

Ethan Jacks and John Bowen, co-founders and Managing Partners of MediaBridge Capital Advisors, noted, “The addition of Courtney Spencer as a Managing Partner is an acknowledgment of his contributions and our confidence that he will greatly enhance our capabilities, especially in the professional audio marketplace. Appointing Rob Levy as a Managing Director reflects his contributions to our work and his deep knowledge of the entertainment industry. Heather Rafter and Richard Wear add enormous experience and knowledge to our senior advisory group and have already made very meaningful contributions to the Firm.

The MediaBridge team, including all four new members, will be attending the NAMM Audio Industry Show starting on Jan 16th in Anaheim CA.

Courtney Spencer has joined the firm as a Managing Partner. Courtney, who is based in the New York City area, has been a Senior Executive Advisor to MediaBridge and was a key contributor for several MediaBridge transactions, including the sale of SSL to Audiotonix and Minnetonka Audio Software to Telos Alliance. He brings extensive experience of professional audio and broadcast, was a partner in CRX Partners, an industry-focused management consulting firm, and held senior management positions with D&M Holdings (including Denon, Marantz, Calrec, and Allen & Heath), where he served on the M&A team, and previously with Sony Broadcast and Professional Group, where he served as VP, GM of Professional Audio. Courtney was a recording and radio producer/engineer earlier in his career. He has focused on investment banking and management consulting for over a decade.

Robert Levy has joined MediaBridge as a Managing Director. Rob, who is based in LA, has more than 20 years of experience in the media and entertainment industry. He has played an instrumental role as a Senior Executive Advisor on several M&A assignments for MediaBridge, including the recent sale of FilmTrack to City National Bank, and the sale of Final Draft to Cast & Crew. Previously, Rob served in various operational roles for high-profile entertainment companies including Artist Management Group, Warner Brothers, and Untitled Entertainment, and was President of InterMedia Entertainment. He began his business career at the investment banking firm of Houlihan Lokey.

Heather Rafter has joined the MediaBridge team as a Senior Industry Advisor. Heather has been providing legal and business development services to the audio, music technology and digital media industries for over twenty-five years. As a founder and principal counsel at RafterMarsh US, she leads the RM team in providing corporate and IP advice (US practice) and entertainment law services (UK) to content creators, hardware and software developers, and event producers, among others.

Heather served as General Counsel for Digidesign, formerly the audio division of Avid Technology. During this time she was instrumental in the company’s acquisition of M-Audio and Sibelius Software. She also represented audio console leader Euphonix in its acquisition by Avid. Heather has served in a variety of leadership roles in the American Bar Association, including Chair of the ABA Section of Science & Technology Law. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University and Columbia University School of Law (J.D., Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar).

Richard Wear has joined the MediaBridge team as a Senior Industry Advisor. Richard is founder and MD of global executive search firm Interfacio, specializing in the media technology sector, based in London and established in 2002. Richard held previous roles as Director and General Manager of Celestion where he led global sales, marketing, product development and distribution for the professional products business, and prior to this was a global product lead for Fostex Corporation of Japan, where he worked closely with R&D teams in Japan and the USA on ground-breaking digital audio products for the recording, post-production and broadcast markets.

Through his work with Interfacio, Richard is continuously engaged with a wide variety of industry leading businesses and their senior management teams across the broadcast, music, lighting, professional and consumer audio sectors as they advance their business development initiatives, and maintains a keen interest and insight into strategic growth and investment opportunities.

Richard graduated from Warwick University, England in 1986 with a BSc Hons in Engineering Science.