Lagardère Studios has secured a majority stake in Skyhigh TV, an independent production company in The Netherlands.
The news follows recent acquisition of Boomerang TV in Spain and the Aito Media Group in Finland by Lagardère.
Skyhigh TV is known for TV-shows such as The Bully Project, Model in 1 Day and Teen Mom Celebrity Support.
Created in 1999, Skyhigh TV specialises in the production and distribution of entertainment, factual and documentary shows. The company, owned by its three founding shareholders (Marc Dik, Wilfred Drechsler and Bernard van den Bosch), produces for both public and private Dutch broadcasters.
“The acquisition of Skyhigh TV in the Netherlands, after those of Aito Media Group in Finland (2017) and Grupo Boomerang TV in Spain (2015), signals a new stage in Lagardère Studios’ international development, bringing the French champion one step closer to becoming European leader,” says Denis Olivennes, president of Lagardère Active.
“The Netherlands is the third largest exporter of TV formats in the world,” said Christophe Thoral, president of Lagardère Studios.
“Our acquisition of Skyhigh TV naturally serves to further our strategy for international growth, but it will also accelerate our policy of creating and circulating formats among our various structures. We are proud and happy to welcome Skyhigh TV’s talented team into the Lagardère Studios family.”
“We are looking forward to becoming part of an ambitious organisation such as Lagardère Studios,” commented Bernard van den Bosch, CEO of Skyhigh TV.
“It is an exciting prospect to share in the creativity of the wider Lagardère group and to keep developing our own inspiring formats in addition. Lagardère Studios is established as an integral and leading contributor in the world of fiction, which perfectly fits Skyhigh TV’s strategy for the future. We are excited to get started!”.