Lagardère buys Spain’s Boomerang TV

France’s Lagardère Active has acquired a majority stake in leading Spanish entertainment and drama producer Grupo Boomerang TV.

Los Misterios de Laura

Lagardère now owns 81% of Grupo BTV, with the remaining shares being held by founders Pepe Abril, Pedro Ricote and Juan José Diaz, who will continue to run the company.

Boomerang generated revenues of €42.4m (US$45m) last year, working for a wide range of Spanish broadcasters including Atresmedia, Mediaset España and RTVE, as well as in Latin America.

In entertainment it is known as the Spanish producer of formats such as The Voice and Top Chef.

In drama, Boomerang made its name with series such as El Secreto de Puente Viejo (The Secret of the Old Bridge), El Tiempo Entre Costuras (The Time in Between), which sold to Neflix and a number of international broadcasters, and Los Misterios de Laura (The Mysteries of Laura), which was adapted in the US by Warner Bros for NBC.

It is the first major international acquisition from Lagardère, whose Lagardère Entertainment division is one of the major TV production groups in France, active both in drama and entertainment.

Lagardère Entertainment has been looking to expand abroad for some time, and two years ago was one of the unsuccessful bidders for Sweden’s Nice Entertainment. Earlier this month the company bolstered its operation in Africa after taking control of TV and movie company International Distribution of Films and Fiction from Africa.

Dennis Olivennes, Lagardère Active’s president, said: “This acquisition is the result of three years of research by Lagardère Entertainment’s president Takis Candilis and his team to find promising companies in Europe sharing the same vision than us.

“The international development of Lagardère Entertainment is strategic to us. We have the ambition to reach a significant size as a production group in Europe and will dedicate the means to this development. This acquisition is a first step.”