All3 confirms Neal Street acquisition

All3Media has acquired Sam Mendes’ Neal Street Productions, the UK drama indie behind series including the BBC’s Call the Midwife.

Founded in 2003 by the American Beauty director along with BBC drama commissioner Pippa Harris and theatre veteran Caro Newling, Neal Street is behind international TV copros Penny Dreadful and The Hollow Crown, both of which have recently completed shooting second seasons for Showtime/Sky Atlantic and PBS/BBC respectively.

Call the Midwife was recently commissioned for a fifth season and has now sold to more than 200 countries worldwide. The company’s TV slate also includes 2007 BBC/HBO TV movie Stuart A Life Backwards, starring Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch.

On the feature film side, Neal Street has produced Revolutionary Road, Jarhead and Starter For Ten, while its theatre credits includes transatlantic venture The Bridge Project and West End and Broadway musicals, Shrek The Musical and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

Financial terms were not disclosed but the firm has been up for sale since last November, when Mendes and his team reportedly put a US$60m price tag on the company.

The acquisition is All3’s first since it was taken over last May by Discovery Communications and Liberty Global.

Neal Street joins All3’s growing stable of drama prodcos that includes Company Pictures and Bentley Productions, as well as the newly launched drama division of Studio Lambert.

Jane Turton, All3Media’s recently appointed CEO, said: “Neal Street is a fabulous company and it’s wonderful to welcome them to the All3Media Group. They have an incredibly strong slate of market leading TV, film and theatre shows and I look forward to working with Pippa, Sam, Nick and Caro and the Neal Street team as they grow their business, in the UK, the US and overseas.”

Turton and Steven Brown, director of corporate development led the acquisition negotiations on behalf of All3.

The Neal Street news comes just days after John Yorke quit as MD of Company Pictures, after nearly two and a half years in the role. The firm was previously All3’s biggest drama label but has seen successive high ranking execs exit over the past couple of years including founders Charlie Pattinson and George Faber, who went on to set up New Pictures and The Forge respectively.