ITV confirms Twofour buy-out

ITV will pay up to £280m (US$440m) to acquire UK indie Twofour Group, the UK broadcaster has confirmed.

The deal, which was expected to close earlier this month, will see ITV pay an initial cash consideration of £55m for 75% of Twofour, the company behind series including Educating Yorkshire, The Jump, Posh Pawn and The Hotel Inspector.

Twofour is owned by equity firm LDC and its production activity spans drama, comedy, factual, children’s and entertainment.

It underwent a restructure last year following the sudden departure of former BBC1 controller Lorraine Heggessey, whose indie group Boom Pictures merged with Twofour in 2013.

ITV will now acquire Boom Supervisory, Twofour’s holding company, in a move designed to grow in-house production unit ITV Studios (ITVS) in factual entertainment formats and drama.

In the latter genre, ITV gets its hands on 51% of Mainstreet Pictures, which was set up with Boom by former ITV drama chiefs Laura Mackie and Sally Haynes at the beginning of 2013. Through buying Twofour, ITV also gains the option to acquire the remaining 49% of Mainstreet some time between 2018 and 2023.

It also gets the opportunity to buy the remaining 25% of Twofour either by the end of 2017, or in a second window from 2019 to 2021. The total maximum consideration for the firm and the remaining 49% of Mainstreet is £280m, ITV said in announcing the transaction, which also gives it distribution business Twofour Rights, with its catalogue comprising over 550 hours of finished programming and formats.

“Great creative talent, fantastic content and brilliant production expertise are central to ITVS’s strategy, so I’m delighted that the Twofour Group is joining our family of production companies as we continue to boost ITVS’s growth in the UK and internationally,” said ITVS MD Kevin Lygo.

Twofour CEO Melaine Leach added: “ITVS has a great track record in backing creative talent and we look forward to working with them as we continue to grow the group in the UK and internationally.”