Decks, Docs and Gazebos TV show.
Blue Ant Media Inc., a Canadian media company whose brands include Cottage Life and Love Nature, hired investment bankers to consider a $100-million initial public offering, according to people familiar with the plans.
The Toronto-based company hired Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. for a possible IPO this year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because plans aren't public. Timing may depend on market conditions, they said.
Blue Ant Media owns stakes in eight Canadian specialty TV channels as well as digital publications and magazines, according to its website. The firm also creates and distributes content on topics including outdoor living and nature with brands including Smithsonian Channel Canada, AUX, Rad and T+E.
"We have not committed to an IPO process at this time," Sarah Etherden, a spokeswoman for Blue Ant, said in an e-mailed statement. "That said, Blue Ant Media is experiencing ongoing international growth and is always considering new ways to expand our business."
Spokesmen for the investment banks didn't immediately comment.
Blue Ant Media was established in 2011 by former Alliance Films Chief Executive Officer Michael MacMillan after merging with specialty channel owner GlassBOX Television under CEO Raja Khanna.
MacMillan co-founded Atlantis Films in 1978, a film and production house that became a broadcaster in 1993 after starting Life Network. The company bought Alliance Communications five years later in a reverse takeover, emerging as an operator of 13 Canadian TV networks and distributor and producer of movies and TV programs. MacMillan sold the company to CanWest Communications Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in 2007.