Hulu IPO: Providence Equity's Exit Strategy?

The knives are already out for Hulu's planned IPO, but Providence Equity Partners is hoping that they prove dull. Providence invested $100 million in Hulu three years ago, in exchange for a minority stake. Now, however, sources say that the firm hopes that the video streaming service could help fill a hole left by investments like MGM (particularly before formally hitting the market to raise a new $8 billion fund). “If Providence wasn’t a PE investor probably wouldn’t be going public,” one buyout exec told me earlier today. “If were doing so well why not just wait? They would benefit by waiting if they thought the subscribers would take up the pay service.”

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