David Tolliver leads a specialized group of professionals that serve the media & entertainment industries. The formation of Castlewood Advisors was the natural result of David's driven entrepreneurial spirit combined with his highly successful record as a corporate banker, owner/operator of media assets and successful transactional advisor to the media sector.
Prior to forming Castlewood Advisors, David spent 11 years as the Group Head and Managing Director of Daniels & Associates, a boutique advisory firm specializing in Cable, Telecom and Media & Entertainment. While at Daniels, David founded the Media & Entertainment Group and won several awards, including the Daniels Award, presented to the individual who closed the most transactions, and the Performance Award, presented to the firm's top revenue producer. The Royal Bank of Canada ("RBC") eventually acquired Daniels & Associates to bolster its presence in the TMT space.
With more than 20 years of experience, Mr. Tolliver brings to Castlewood strong expertise across a number of disciplines. While at RBC Daniels, Mr. Tolliver led numerous deals most notably of the $1.2 billion acquisition of Eller Media by Clear Channel Communications. At the time, $1.2 billion was the largest OOH transaction ever completed and still ranks among the top five. Mr. Tolliver also advised Next Media in the sale of its Hartford, CT billboard plant to CBS Outdoor, in a deal valued at approximately $75 million. Some of Mr. Tolliver's other OOH transactions include the $110 million Magic Media transaction, the $165 million Fairway Outdoor sale.
Mr. Tolliver is also credited with originating and leading some of the largest alternative out-of-home advertising deals ever completed in the $125 million sale of Triumph Taxi Advertising to Clear Channel and the $120 million sale of Accent Health. Mr. Tolliver advised Next Media in sale of it gas pump advertising business to Brite Media. Mr. Tolliver advised Brite Media in the divesture of all of its major assets including the sale of the gas pump advertising business to AllOver Media. In addition, he advised Brite Media in the sale of the coffee sleeve/cash jacket business to Beekman Investments and the sale of certain intellectual property assets to Apple.
While at Daniels/RBC Mr. Tolliver completed over 40 Television and Radio deals. Some of the notable TV deals include the $1.5 billion recapitalization of Telemundo Group, Inc., the Hispanic television network. Mr. Tolliver also advised his client during the subsequent $2.7 billion sale of Telemundo to NBC.
From 2008 to 2013, in the most difficult deal environment in generations, Mr. Tolliver personally completed over $500 million in OOH transactions, more than any other individual or advisory firm in the industry.
Mr. Tolliver was also co-founder of KT Communication, a private equity backed company that owned and operated a NBC affiliate television station in a top 50 market. The station was acquired for $74 million. As a former owner of media properties and banking executive, Mr. Tolliver brings a unique skill set to the advisory business. His operating experience, as well as the experience of buying, selling and financing his media properties, provides him with an excellent knowledge base to understand his client's needs and issues.
After founding KT Communications, his background includes founding Statesmen Communications, a company that served as a vehicle for acquisitions in cable, television, and radio, which raised more than $200 million in capital commitments.
Mr. Tolliver began his career after graduate business school at the First National Bank of Chicago (now JP Morgan Chase). After completing the two-year training program, Mr. Tolliver was selected to serve in the Corporate Finance Department, specializing in media/broadcasting, lending and capital market transactions. Mr. Tolliver also spent time in bank's Loan Workout & Restructuring Group and the US Financial Institutions Group.
Mr. Tolliver earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Hobart College and a MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Mr. Tolliver serves on the Executive Board of Admiral at The Lake, one of the oldest senior living facilities in the country.
.