Lagardère Studios, a subsidiary of Lagardère Active, has signed an agreement to take a majority stake in Aito Media Group.
Created in 2003 by IIkka Hynninen and Eero Hietala, Aito Media Group is a leading independent audiovisual production company in Finland specialized in factual and unscripted entertainment.
Aito Media Group has created and produced over 50 programmes and formats broadcast in over 40 countries. It recently kicked off its venture into scripted production with the development of about a dozen series.
The distribution of the Aito Media Group catalogue will now be handled by Lagardère Studios Distribution.
“To take Lagardère Studios from leading French producer to major player on the European audiovisual scene is our goal-Christophe Thoral’s and mine, with Arnaud Lagardère’s endorsement,” said Denis Olivennes, CEO of Lagardère Active.
“After the purchase of Grupo Boomerang TV in Spain, the acquisition of Aito Media Group is a new step in carrying out this international development strategy.”
“After the purchase of Grupo Boomerang TV in Spain, Lagardère Studios is boosting its international presence in northern Europe, a region particularly dynamic and innovative in audiovisual production,” added Christophe Thoral, CEO of Lagardère Studios.
“We are absolutely delighted that Eero and Ilkka agreed to join us. They will bring to Lagardère Studios enormous creative synergy.”
“We are excited and honored to be entering this alliance with Lagardère Studios,” said Ilkka Hynninen and Eero Hietala.
“It marks an important step in the development of Aito Media Group, and is an endorsement of all the work we have done over the years in the Finnish market. We can now count on Lagardère Studios to offer brand new content to our partners in Finland, more rapidly develop our expertise in scripted entertainment, and distribute our products worldwide.”
