Nordic World arrives in US, Hungary

Distributor Nordic World has opened new offices in Hungary and the US as part of its strategy to expand operations outside of its local region.

The firm, which is owned by TV2 in Norway and TV4 in Sweden, has opened new hubs in Budapest and New York that will operate in tandem with the company’s existing bases in Oslo, Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

The New York office will be overseen by Paulina Eklund, Nordic World’s director of sales and acquisitions for North America, Latin America and Africa. The Budapest hub will be headed by Emese Acs, who oversees sales and acquisitions for Central and Eastern Europe, German-speaking territories, the Middle East, Turkey and Asia.

The expansion, first reported by C21 in January, is part of Nordic World’s plan to seek new opportunities outside of its home markets to maintain growth.

The aim is to build an international network of satellite operations and creative alliances across Northern Europe and North America, with particular focus on the English-speaking markets.

CEO Espen Huseby said the new outposts were proof the firm “is not just ‘talking the talk’ when it comes to expanding Nordic World’s footprint” and added that further expansion into the UK and Ireland are “top of our agenda.”

The first move in Nordic World’s expansion strategy was the acquisition in January of Patty Geneste’s Dutch format shop Absolutely Independent, followed later that month by an exclusive first-look deal with London-based format creation company Boxatricks.

Nordic World has since inked representation deals with European indies including STV and Doceye in Denmark, OTW in Sweden and Feelgood in Norway along with Welsh prodco Cwmni Da.