The $3 Billion Rollup: Inside Moonbug’s Epic Exit (with Alex Prokofjev from Rollup Europe)
What do Cocomelon, Blippi, and Little Baby Bum have in common? They were all part of one of the most impressive media rollups in history: Moonbug Entertainment — a business that scaled from 0 to $100M EBITDA in under four years and exited for $3 billion to Candle Media (backed by Blackstone).
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In this episode, I sit down with Alex Prokofjev, co-founder of Rollup Europe, who did a deep dive into Moonbug’s strategy. We unpack the insane deal-making, content flywheel, multi-channel monetization, and the unique cap table structure that fueled this rocketship.
We explore:
00:00:00 - Intro: The Most Fascinating Exit in Modern Media?
00:00:42 - Why Moonbug Was a Contrarian Bet in 2018
00:02:15 - Meet the Dream Team: Disney + Wildbrain + M&A
00:03:35 - How They Scaled to $3B in Just 3.5 Years
00:05:00 - Moonbug’s Playbook: Monetizing Kids' IP Across Channels
00:06:15 - Cap Table Deep Dive: 6 Share Classes & Incentive Design
00:07:30 - How Moonbug Achieved 50% EBITDA Margins Across 30 Brands
00:09:00 - Little Baby Bum: The $90M Deal That Changed Everything
00:13:00 - Moonbug’s Exit to Candle Media: Was $3B Worth It?
00:16:00 - Why Moonbug Hasn’t Been Copied (Successfully)
00:17:20 - The Legal Battles & Risks Behind the Scenes
00:19:35 - Founders’ Payday: Who Made How Much in the Exit?
00:20:30 - Top 3 Lessons for Today’s Rollup Operators
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Subscribe on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6lr5bE3SNZF2uEE7Nb0DHh
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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/holdco-builders/id1695713724
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Alex from RollUp Europe: https://rollupeurope.beehiiv.com/
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.
