Leonine, the new German media group assembled by US financial investor KKR, will acquire W&B TV from Endemol Shine Group, Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann.
The German production company will become part of the Leonine Production division, to which Wiedemann & Berg Film belongs since April 2019. Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann will remain managing directors of both companies and will also join Leonine’s management on January 1, 2020.
Berg will assume the position of Chief Creative and Chief Production Officer for Leonine and will be responsible for the creative direction of the group. Together with Wiedemann, he will manage Leonine’s entire fiction production in the areas of cinema, TV and co-production. In his role as Chief Business Development Officer of the group, Wiedemann will be responsible for the development of new business areas and their integration.
Berg and Wiedemann have sold all their shares in W&B TV and Wiedemann & Berg Film, but will become Leonine shareholders and thereby remain invested as entrepreneurs.
In addition to his duties as CEO, Fred Kogel will continue to be responsible for Leonine’s non-fiction/entertainment production division.
“We are delighted that, following the acquisition of Wiedemann & Berg Film, we have now succeeded in acquiring W&B TV. In doing so we have integrated two of the most innovative and successful production companies in Germany into Leonine and we have completed the management board with Quirin and Max,” said Kogel.
“Since we started to shape Leonine together, we have jointly had the ambitious vision of a one stop shop for premium content. As part of the team with KKR, Atwater Capital and our management colleagues, we are co-founders of Leonine and I am very much looking forward to working together,” Kogel added.
Subject to regulatory approval, the transaction is expected to be completed in early 2020.
