Blink49 continues dealmaking spree with acquisition of Lighthearted Entertainment

Jeff Spangler (left) Rob LaPlante

John Morayniss-led Canadian outfit Blink49 Studios has made its latest M&A move with the acquisition of Lighthearted Entertainment, the LA-based unscripted prodco behind titles including Ready to Love, Are You the One? and Queen’s Court.

The deal will see Blink49 acquire Lighthearted’s active productions and content library, as well as projects it currently has in development. Financial terms were not disclosed.

As part of the agreement, Lighthearted co-owners Rob LaPlante and Jeff Spangler join Blink49’s leadership team as co-presidents of global formats, as the Toronto-headquartered company looks to expand its formats business across the reality, dating and relationship genres. LaPlante and Jeff Spangler will report to Blink49’s unscripted TV president Tara Long.

Established in 1992 by late producer Howard Schultz, Lighthearted Entertainment has become known for long-running, character-driven formats that have found homes on major US networks such as Netflix, Peacock, Fox, ABC, OWN, MTV and VH1.

Blink49 said the deal will give Lighthearted greater development support, access to global commissioners and the ability to tap into Canadian incentives and talent as a means of incubating formats in a more cost-efficient way.

Over the past two years, Blink49 has arguably been the most active dealmaker in the Canadian market, with the acquisition of Canada’s Pier 21 Films and Front Street Pictures, an investment in LA-based digital-first comedy producer Stapleview and a development and production joint venture with US-based Piller/Segan, among other deals. The company also took on investment from Canadian entertainment group Bell Media.

“This acquisition marks an important step in expanding our formats business and broadening the scope of what we can deliver to buyers worldwide,” said Morayniss, who serves as CEO.

“With Lighthearted’s creative leadership and approach to building scalable unscripted IP, Blink49 is well positioned to accelerate growth across high-demand genres.”

Long said the addition of LaPlante and Spangler would bolster Blink49’s “creative vision and leadership will strengthen our development pipeline and unlock new opportunities across Canada and the international marketplace.”

LaPlante and Spangler added: “Joining forces with Blink49 is an exciting new chapter as we unite two strong creative engines. By combining our development, production, and distribution strengths, we’re positioned to expand our slate, grow our partnerships, and deliver high-impact unscripted formats around the world.”