Broadcast giant ITV bought a majority stake in Hostile Planet and Night On Earth’s natural history program maker Plimsoll Productions for a deal of around £ 103.5 million.
TV has acquired a 79.5% stake in Bristol-based producers from private equity firm LDC, Plimsoll founder Grant Mansfield, and other existing shareholders.
ITV said Mansfield will continue to operate the business and play an important role in program development.
Plimsoll is the producer of series such as Apple +’s Tiny World and Giant World, Disney’s Hostile Planet and Supernatural Planet, and ITV’s upcoming A Year On Planet Earth.
ITV also has the option to acquire the remaining 20.5% of Plimsoll for up to £ 79.5m in the future, and the final price will depend on Plimsoll’s revenue performance over the next four and a half years.
ITV’s share was up 2% on Tuesday morning after the deal was announced.
Through Plimsoll Productions, as a studio, you can continue to harness the growing demand for natural history and fact-based programming.Carolyn McCall, ITV
Carolyn McCall, Chief Executive Officer of ITV, said:
“Through Plimsoll Productions, as a studio, we can continue to leverage the growing demand for natural history and fact-based programming.”
Under the agreement, ITV will pay current shareholders £ 85.5 million and will reimburse Primsol’s debt for an additional £ 17.6 million.
Founded in 2013, Plimsoll has produced content that is viewed and sold in nearly 200 countries.
Today’s video
ITV said the deal is “an additional milestone in ITV’s strategy to expand its international content business.”
In addition to expanding ITV Studios’ production base, he added that this move will enable him to leverage Plimsoll’s strong network of global content streamers.
Plimsoll also has an increasing number of documentary and factual entertainment departments producing BBC, ABC, Channel 4, CNN, history and more.
ITV Studios already has a relationship with Plimsoll as a distributor of Stephen Fry’s narrated A Year On Planet Earth.
