Italy’s Garbo Produzioni acquires stake in Spanish indie Onza to develop joint projects

Italian prodco Garbo Produzioni has acquired an undisclosed stake in Spanish indie Onza.

Maite Bulgari

Founded by Maite Bulgari in 2017, Garbo Produzioni is behind shows including detective series L’Ispettore Coliandro, noir series La Porta Rossa and thriller Il silenzio dell’acqua. It recently opened Spanish branch Garbo Stories to promote international projects.

Onza, meanwhile, was formed in 2014 by José María Irisarri, Nicolás Bergareche and Gonzalo Sagardí and is behind shows like mystery series The Ministry of Time, comedy Little Coincidences, police thriller Parot and historical drama Hernán.

Onza operates in both Spain and the US, producing content for the Spanish-speaking market including Latin America.

José María Irisarri

Following the acquisition, Onza will develop joint projects with Garbo Produzioni and Bulgari’s other prodco Anthos for Spain, Italy and Latin America.

Onza’s founders will remain shareholders and continue to manage the company, while Bulgari will become VP of Onza.

Also joining the Onza board of directors are former Banijay exec Stefano Torrisi, who became CEO and MD of Garbo Stories last year, and Garbo’s COO and CFO Raúl Ballestero.

Irisarri, Onza’s president, said: “[The acquisition] means opening a new growth phase in which we share the strategic vision and ambition to produce the best content in Spanish-speaking markets and in related territories such as Italy.”