ITV takes Twofour for up to 80 million

ITV has agreed to acquire Boom Supervisory, the holding company of the Twofour Group, the family of production companies behind shows including Educating Yorkshire, The Jump, and The Hotel Inspector. The announcement follows a raft of recent acquisitions by the broadcaster as it strengthens its original content business.

The broadcaster acquired Twofour from majority shareholder LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, will pay an initial cash consideration of £55 million for 75 per cent of the Group. There is an option for the remaining 25 per cent. Additionally, Twofour owns 51 per cent of drama indie Mainstreet Pictures and has a put and call option to acquire the remaining 49 per cent of its subsidiary Mainstreet that can be exercised between 2018 and 2023.

The total maximum consideration for Twofour and the remaining 49 per cent of Mainstreet is £280 million.

Under the management of chief executive Melanie Leach, Twofour delivered £5 million EBITDA in 2014. That same year the group produced over 1,200 hours of programmes through its production companies including Twofour, Boomerang, Oxford Scientific Films, Indus, Boom Cymru, Twofour America and scripted producer Delightful Industries.

Great creative talent, fantastic content and brilliant production expertise are central to ITV Studios' strategy, so I'm delighted that the Twofour Group is joining our family of production companies as we continue to boost ITV Studios' growth in the UK and internationally, commented Kevin Lygo, managing director, ITV Studios

Julian Bellamy, managing director, ITV Studios UK added: At ITV Studios our mission is to work with the best creative talent in Britain and our acquisition of Twofour is a brilliant illustration of that ambition. They're a creative group at the top of their game across factual, entertainment, drama and comedy and we're delighted to welcome them into the ITVS family.

The Twofour Group is currently in production with a raft of new and returning shows including six-part thriller Unforgotten (ITV) and comedy, I Want My Wife Back (BBC1) from Mainstreet, Educating Cardiff (Channel 4) from Twofour, Posh Pawn daytime spin-off The Dealmakers (Channel 4) from Boomerang and Oh My Dog from Oxford Scientific Films (Sky One).

LINK:	http://www.tvbeurope.com/itv-takes-twofour-280-million/...
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