Zodiak’s Diverse acquisition goes through

Expansionist Scandinavian superindie Zodiak Television is to gain a presence in the UK and US production sectors now that its £8m (US$14.9m) acquisition of FBC Group’s Diverse Production has been finalised.

The acquisition means Zodiak has gained the Operatunity production company, which has offices in London, Bristol and New York. It also picks up the arm within FBC that handles international distribution of formats and finished programmes, which will be integrated into Zodiak’s distribution arm, Zodiak Television World (ZTW).

Diverse’s slate of formats and finished programmes, such as Ballet Hoo for Channel 4, Beyond Boundaries for BBC2, and Shalom in the Home for TLC US, will be channelled via ZTW, which has access to markets such as Scandinavia, eastern Europe and Russia.

In turn, Zodiak gets increased access to UK and US markets for its 13 companies. The group has already bought Denmark’s Look Productions, a stake in Russian prodco TeleAllians and Polish production house Zebra Media in recent months.

Its Scandinavian production operations include Mastiff Media, MTV Mastiff, Jarowskij, T&T Broadcasters and Zodiak AFP in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway.

Diverse’s creative director Roy Ackerman and MD Paul Sowerbutts will continue to head the production company, with Janet Smyth as deputy MD and Rob MacIver as creative director and head of the Bristol office. Diverse said that continuing the growth of its US office would remain a priority.

The acquisition comes only two years after FBC paid a reported £8m for the factual and entertainment prodco in an attempt to use Diverse’s creative talent to boost its advertiser-funded programming business.

Patrick Svensk, president and CEO of Zodiak, said: “I know that the management team will contribute significantly to the group’s future development in creativity, exploitation of rights and acquisition of formats and other rights.”

Paul Sowerbutts, MD of Diverse, said: “Patrick has already expressed his commitment to continuing to build on our recent UK and US success stories, as well as opening up new distribution avenues internationally, and we are full of optimism as we embark upon this new chapter of our growth.”