Talpa Media, the media group of Dutch entrepreneur John de Mol, has acquired 49.9% of the shares in German production company Schwartzkopff TV, a 100% subsidiary of German media group Axel Springer, and will rename it Talpa Germany.
With the transaction of which financial details have not been disclosed Talpa Media and Schwartzkopff TV reinforce their partnership in the German TV market.
Schwartzkopff TV was founded in 1993 and became an Axel Springer subsidiary in 1999. The company which has offices in Berlin and Hamburg produces a variety of formats from music shows and galas to events.
Each year, Schwartzkopff TV produces more than 180 programme hours for TV channels such as RTL, ProSieben, Sat.1, VOX and ZDF. Since 2010, the company has been holding the exclusive rights to co-produce the international Talpa formats in Germany. This includes music shows like The Voice of Germany and The Voice Kids as well as reality format Utopia which will come to Germany in 2015.
The deal is still subject to anti-trust approval by the competition authorities.
