FTI Consulting buys media specialist HighView Media
FTI Consulting has added Philip Schuman’s HighView Media boutique entertainment and management consulting firm to its Media & Entertainment Group, appointing Schuman as the Groups Co-Leader. The acquisition will further strengthen FTI’s media expertise to help its clients navigate a rapidly changing environment on issues such as distribution and delivery platforms.
HighView Media (HVM) was founded in 2002 by Philip Schuman and is a management consultancy and media advisory, specialising in enabling new forms of media and entertainment distribution. The firm has offices in Santa Monica (headquarters), New York, Vienna, Paris and Mumbai.
In line with its ambition to strengthen its expertise in the media industry, global consulting firm FTI Consulting has expanded its entertainment and media practice with the professionals of HMV. The acquisition of HMV is part of FTI’s larger strategy to position itself at the forefront of providing advice on delivery platforms, to cable operators, satellite companies, IPTV providers, mobile providers, Internet platforms, and branded entertainment destinations. With changes in the distribution environment and methods of entertainment media, acquiring HMV situates FTI Consulting well to guide media businesses through the pitfalls of a rapidly changing distribution landscape.
As part of the merger, Philip Schuman has been named Senior Managing Director and will co-lead FTI Consulting’s Media & Entertainment group with Luke Schaeffer and the firm’s content valuation experts, Roy Salter and Eric Briggs. “Phil and the HVM team give us added depth and another key point of entry into media and entertainment companies, especially at a time when both sectors face not only intense day-to-day strategic, competitive and operational challenges, but potentially disruptive technological changes as well,” comments Carlyn Taylor, Head of FTI Consulting’s TMT practice, on the HVM professionals joining her team. “With the HVM team and our already strong existing services, we have created a leading large-scale media and entertainment group designed to assess, recommend and execute the actions needed for our clients to prosper amid transformative changes facing their industries.”
Reflecting on his firm joining with FTI consulting, Schuman says: “FTI Consulting is an ideal platform for the HVM team to join as the industry pushes closer to a tipping point because of new technologies, consolidation and globalisation. By combining HVM’s sector expertise, business development and strategic assessment capabilities with FTI Consulting’s global reach, leading media and entertainment valuation and financial advisory services, we believe our combined group will create its own special alchemy.”
