The new German media group assembled by US financial investor KKR through the acquisition of Tele München Group, Universum Film, i&u TV and Wiedemann & Berg Film will be branded Leonine.
The holding and, from January 2020, also other units of the company will operate under the new name.
“When choosing the new brand as our company name, the following aspects were decisive for us: it should reflect our ties to our home region of Bavaria and Munich, both of which are also highly esteemed internationally, it has got to work internationally and the trademark rights had to be available,” said Fred Kogel (pictured), CEO of Leonine.
“With Leonine we have found a link to Bavaria with its heraldic animal, the lion. The English meaning of the word ‘leonine’ is ‘lion-like’ and describes for us above all an attitude – courage, energy, confidence and a strong sense for team play. This is reflected in our corporate values.”
“With a great team, we are building a company that creates content that inspires – with passion, experience, expertise and creativity – that attracts creative talent and takes advantage of the new opportunities of a changing content world. We aim to establish Leonine as a continuously reliable ‘one stop shop’ for premium content.”
Leonine Holding, which is led by CEO Fred Kogel, Chief Operating Officer Dr Markus Frerker, Chief Financial Officer Joachim Scheuenpflug and Chief Distribution Officer Bernhard zu Castell, is bundling Leonine’s business into the three areas that represent the company’s value chain: Leonine Production, Leonine Distribution and Leonine Licensing.
The production companies, such as Wiedemann & Berg Film, Odeon Film and i&u TV, the TV channel Tele 5 as well as the SVOD services Filmtastic, Home of Horror and Arthouse CNMA will keep their names. RTL II will also remain unaffected by the renaming.
The other distribution and licensing companies will operate under the Leonine brand from the beginning of 2020. These include Tele München with its affiliates TM International, Concorde Filmverleih and Concorde Home Entertainment as well as Universum Film.
