The Tornante Company

History

The Tornante Company was founded by Michael Eisner in 2005, after he left The Walt Disney Company. In 2006, Tornante formed Vuguru production company with backing from Rogers Media of Canada. The company made a $12.5 million venture funding round investment in Veoh in April 2006. Tornante purchased Team Baby Entertainment, a maker of infants and toddlers sports-related DVDs in June 2006. On March 5, 2007, the company and Madison Dearborn Partners purchased Topps for $385 million.

In June 2015, Tornante Co. formed Tornante-Sinclair LLC, a TV production company, with Sinclair TV Group. Eisner's company signed in November 2015 a worldwide distribution deal with Universal Pictures to release the firm's self-funded slate of films. In August 2017, Tornante closed on the purchase of the Portsmouth Football Club for an undisclosed deal; however, BBC reported that Eisner had offered £5.67 million "and will invest an extra £10m."

Holdings

Current investment holdings of the firm include:

• AirTime
• Clique Media (now Clique Brands)
• Metaverse
• Omaze
• Portsmouth Football Club
• Rad
• Spark Neuro
• TaskRabbit
• Tornante-Sinclair LLC (50%) a joint venture TV production company with Sinclair TV Group for court shows, comedy programs, game shows and talk shows in first-run syndicated
• Tornante Television, Los Angeles based subsidiary overseeing Tornante-Sinclair via Tornante co-president, Lauren Corrao. The unit also produces the adult animated comedies BoJack Horseman, Tuca & Bertie, Undone and Long Story Short, and in conjunction with Trifecta Entertainment and Media the syndicated court reality show Judge Faith.
• Vuguru (2006–) production company with backing from Rogers Media of Canada

Former holdings of the firm include:

• Team Baby Entertainment (June 2006) a maker of infants and toddlers sports-related DVDs, which merged with Topps
• Veoh (stake) April 2006

References

References

1. (March 6, 2007). "Former Disney Chief Adds Topps to His Collection". DealBook. New York Times.
2. (October 8, 2012). "Mipcom: FremantleMedia To Distribute Vuguru Content Outside North America". Deadline.
3. (November 22, 2008). "Away From the House of Disney, Eisner Finds a Home Online". The New York Times.
4. (June 29, 2015). "Sinclair Broadcast forms venture with former Disney CEO Eisner to create TV shows". Baltimore Sun.
5. (November 13, 2012). "Michael Eisner Returns To Features With Universal Pictures Distribution Deal". Deadline.
6. (August 3, 2017). "Former Disney Boss Michael Eisner Seals Deal for English Soccer Team". Variety.
7. (August 3, 2017). "Michael Eisner's Tornante Completes Acquisition of English Soccer Club Portsmouth {{!}} Hollywood Reporter".
8. "Eisner completes Portsmouth takeover". BBC Sport.
9. "Michael Eisner's Tornante Co. Teams With Sinclair Broadcast for New Syndicated Joint Venture". The Hollywood Reporter.