Warner Bros seals Eyeworks deal

Celebrity Splash and Test the Nation prodco Eyeworks is now part of Warner Bros Television Group, although the Dutch company’s US operations were not included in the deal.

Reinout Oerlemans

The acquisition, which was the subject of much speculation in recent months, gives Warner Bros all of Eyeworks’ businesses outside the US, in 15 countries across Europe, South America, Australia and New Zealand, adding 13 new territories to its network of production companies.

The US studio said the move will further strengthen its production capabilities and see it take over all of Eyeworks’ international distribution activities.

Eyeworks founder and CEO Reinout Oerlemans will move to LA for his new role as chairman of Eyeworks USA. He will step down as CEO of Eyeworks Group once the Warners acquisition has been completed.

“This is the end of an era because I will no longer be the CEO of the group, after an amazing period of 12-and-a-half years since I’ve built the company from scratch together with Ronald van Wechem and Robert van den Bogaard,” said Oerlemans.

Founded in the Netherlands in 2001, Eyeworks is an international independent producer and distributor of scripted and non-scripted content across a range of genres, including entertainment, drama and film.

The acquisition – reportedly worth some US$200m – marks a milestone for Warner Bros International Television Production, led by exec VP Ronald Goes. It follows the US$160m acquisition in 2010 of Shed Media, a production group in the UK, and its takeover of BlazHoffski in the Netherlands and Belgium in 2011.

Kevin Tsujihara, CEO of Warner Bros Entertainment, said: “Our proposed acquisition of Eyeworks’ 15 local production companies represents a significant next step in our strategy, further strengthening Warner Bros’ position in global television.”