Charles Prast

Charles Prast
Born Charles William Prast
1966 (age 51–52)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Residence Barcelona, Spain, Cyprus
Nationality Anglo-American
Alma mater Bates College
Occupation Investor
Years active 1987-present
Board member of Milestone Capital Partners
CPZ Partners
Crocusbrook Ltd.[1]

Charles William Prast (born 1966) is an Anglo American media investor and investment banker. He was the president and CEO of Private Media Group from 2012 to 2017 [2][3] and from May 2002 until November 2003.[4] Previous to moving to Private, Prast was a corporate financier based in London.

Early life and education

Charles William Prast was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He attended Greens Farms Academy in Greens Farms, Connecticut and double majored in Economics and French at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.[5]

Banking career

Early Career in Paris

Shortly after graduation from college in 1987, Prast began his financial career with Dean Witter Reynolds in Paris France where, at 21, he was appointed as Operations Manager of their Paris branch. In 1989, Prast moved to Drexel Burnham Lambert’s Paris office as an Associate Director. Following Drexel Burnham’s closure in 1990, Prast and several colleagues co-founded a hybrid asset management and institutional equity sales operation for Legg Mason and Banamex in Paris.

Investment Banking

In 1993, Prast moved to London to join former colleagues from Drexel Burnham Lambert who had created NatWest Markets USA, the US broker dealer and investment banking arm of National Westminster Bank. In 1997 Prast left NatWest to join Furman Selz’s London office as a Director and equity holder. Shortly after his joining, Furman Selz agreed to be acquired by Dutch banking giant ING Group for $600 million[6] and was integrated into ING Barings, ING Group’s investment banking arm.

At the end of his buy-out related contact, Prast left ING Barings to join Commerzbank AG in London[7] where he helped build the media banking group and played a key role in raising over $1bn in equity and equity-linked financing for US and European interactive entertainment companies including Ubisoft SA.[8] Building on Commerzbank’s successful IPO of $300m European erotic retailer Beate Uhse AG, Prast also began to provide investment banking services to adult entertainment companies, believing that the Internet would become a disruptive technology for adult content providers and create challenges that would require consolidation and capital.[9]

Corporate Roles

In early 2002, Prast left Commerzbank to join Barcelona based Private Media Group, Inc. as President and CEO. At Private, Prast restructured $4m in short-term debt[10] and raised over $2m in equity-linked financing.[11] At Private, Prast bid for the Napster brand which was in bankruptcy.

In late 2003, General Media, Inc. the parent company of Penthouse filed for protection under Chapter 11.[12] From 2004 until 2005 Prast worked to maximize the value of the portion of Penthouse acquired by Interactive Brand Development, Inc. At Interactive Brand Development, Prast structured an investment in XTV, Inc.[13] an IPTV provider for which Prast helped obtain a NASDAQ listing and ultimately joined as CEO.[14]

Under Prast and his partners’ tenure LA-based XTV was rebranded as Interactive Television Networks[15] and its relationships grew to include Universal Studios,[16] Major League Baseball,[17] Liberty Starz[18] and Setanta Sports[19] among others.

Angel investor: 2008 - present

Since 2008, Prast has acted as an early stage investor and adviser. He served as an SVP of New Frontier Media, Inc. as well as adviser to the Board of Beate Uhse and numerous public and private company Boards, creditors and shareholders on a confidential basis. After a shareholder and creditor rights battle, Prast was elected to the Board of Directors of Private in January 2012.[20][21]

Personal life

He is based in Cyprus and Barcelona, Spain.[22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://www.solocheck.ie/Irish-Company/Crocusbrook-Limited-602026
  2. ↑ "Charles Prast, Private Media Group Inc: Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  3. ↑ https://www.solocheck.ie/Irish-Director/Prast/Charles/892905620/
  4. ↑ "Charles Prast - Private Media Group Inc Insider | PRVT". Macroaxis. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  5. ↑ Group, Private Media. "Private Media Group Elects Additional Board Members and Appoints Charles Prast as President and CEO". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  6. ↑ Truell, Peter. " Furman Selz is joining ING, as takeover candidates dwindle ", The New York Times, New York, 28 August 1997. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  7. ↑ Brewis, Janine. " Commerzbank recruits ING Barings banker for media role ", Financial News, London England, 4 April 2001. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  8. ↑ NewsInvest. " Ubi Soft Entertainment S.A. fixe les conditions de l’émission d'obligations à option de conversion ", UbiSoft SA, Paris, 21 November 2001. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  9. ↑ BBC. " Cashing in on porn boom ", BBC, London England, 5 July 2001. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  10. ↑ SEC. " Private Media Group 10-Q ", SEC, Barcelona Spain, 13 May 2003. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  11. ↑ Private Media Group. " Private Media Group Announces Completion of Institutional Private Placement Convertible 3-year Notes to fund US broadcasting rollout " Archived December 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine., Private Media Group, Barcelona Spain, 23 September 2003. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  12. ↑ USA Today. " Penthouse founder Bob Guccione resigns as CEO ", USA Today, New York, 7 November 2003. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  13. ↑ Interactive Brand Development. " , BNET, Deerfield Beach FL, 19 April 2005. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  14. ↑ Lubove, Seth. " , Forbes, Los Angeles CA, 31 August 2005. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  15. ↑ http://www.secinfo.com/d12TC3.zY36.htm
  16. ↑ Haugsted, Linda. " Webcaster Nabs NBC U Theatrical Titles ", Multichannel News, New York, 13 November 2005. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  17. ↑ ITVN. " MLB Advanced Media, ITVN reach distribution agreement " Archived March 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine., BroadcastEngineering, New York, 22 December 2006. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  18. ↑ Sechrist, Steve. " ITVN Serves Starz/Encore, Sports and More via Web STB ", DisplayDaily, New York, 26 December 2006. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  19. ↑ TechWatch. " Setanta signs with ITVN ", TechWatch, London, 17 August 2006. Retrieved on 2010-08-07.
  20. ↑ NY Post. " Swedish Smut King is Out ", New York Post, New York, 1 April 2012. Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  21. ↑ AVN. " Court Confirms Private Election Results ", AVN, Los Angeles, 31 March 2012. Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  22. ↑ Group, Private Media. "Private Media Group Elects Additional Board Members and Appoints Charles Prast as President and CEO". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
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