Newsletter startup Puck is in advanced discussions for an all-cash strategic recapitalization with RedBird Capital Partners that would value the company at around $250 million and help finance its growth. The transaction would buy out Puck’s existing institutional investors and give RedBird a significant stake, making it the company’s leading investor. Shares held by Puck’s founders and reporters would be excluded, and the company says its editorial independence will remain unchanged. Founded in 2021, Puck has around 50,000 paying subscribers and uses a creator-led model in which journalists receive equity and a share of subscription revenue. The company previously raised around $20 million from investors including TPG’s growth arm, Standard Investments and J Rothschild Capital Management. RedBird became an investor after Puck acquired AirMail, a luxury and travel digital magazine founded by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter. RedBird’s wider media interests include Artists Equity, Fulwell Entertainment and EverPass Media, while it is also a main backer of David Ellison’s bid for Paramount-Skydance to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. That transaction is being challenged by a dozen states over potential effects on distributors, studios, consumers and workers.