Karl Brophy buys stake in Piers Morgan's growing media group
, a former journalist who sold his communications business Red Flag Consulting for an estimated €45 million earlier this year, has bought a multimillion euro stake in British broadcaster
Piers Morgan's
media business.
Mr Brophy, a former Daily Mirror reporter who worked with its one-time editor Mr Morgan, is understood to have invested a significant seven-figure sum to buy a minority stake in the British man's Wake Up Productions.
Another minority stake in the business is held by Martin Cruddace, a former racing executive and long-time associate of Mr Morgan's who also previously sat on the board of Red Flag.
In March, Wake Up bought control of the Piers Morgan Uncensored news and opinion show from Rupert Murdoch's Talk TV, an online venture that broadcasts on
YouTube
but was previously a linear television channel.
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Red Flag Consulting sold with expected €33m payout to founder Karl Brophy
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As part of that deal, Wake Up entered a four-year agreement with Mr Murdoch's News UK to share advertising revenue generated on YouTube by Piers Morgan Uncensored.
The popular show presented by Mr Morgan last week passed four million subscribers on the Google-owned platform, where it broadcasts roughly six episodes each week. Recent guests included influencer Jake Paul; Eric Trump, son of US president Donald Trump; and former hip-hop star Kanye West, who now styles himself as Ye.
Mr Morgan plans to expand the Uncensored brand in the online broadcasting market, using YouTube as its distribution platform. He told The Irish Times he may try to entice other YouTube stars with big subscriber bases to join the fold under the umbrella of the Uncensored brand.
Or, he said, he could launch a stable of Uncensored shows covering different areas, similar to how Gary Lineker's Goalhanger stable of podcasts grew brands such as The Rest is Politics, The Rest is History, The Rest is Football and so on.
Mr Morgan said all the content Wake Up produces is aimed at the burgeoning US media market – he has worked in the US on and off for two decades.
'We're in the top three in the world [with Piers Morgan Uncensored] on YouTube for news and opinion. No mean feat in three years,' Mr Morgan said.
It is understood Mr Brophy will not join the board of Wake Up, but will contribute to strategy. Mr Morgan and Mr Cruddace were said to be keen to bring on board an investor who could help devise plans to grow the business.
Mr Brophy, a former executive at Independent News & Media, founded Red Flag in 2013 with former INM chief Gavin O'Reilly as its chair and swiftly built up the business. Mr Brophy's wife Deirdre Grant runs the Irish division of Red Flag, which also has offices in London, Washington, Brussels and Cape Town.
Mr Brophy personally held a 75 per cent stake in the business worth about €33 million when it was sold to US-based Ankura Consulting Group in February.
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