Warner Bros. Television Group has acquired a majority stake in Shed Media, a major production and distribution company based in the UK.
Warner Bros. announced the deal Thursday morning.
Shed includes six different companies that are responsible for more than 2,000 hours of programming including "Supernanny" and "Footballers' Wives." The company will be incorporated into the operations of Warner Bros. International Television Production.
WBITVP was formed in 2009. Since then, it has been licensing many formats including "The Bachelor." WBITVP is also aligned with Dutch producer John de Mol, one of the co-creators of the international reality hit "Big Brother."
Warner Bros. Television Group's president Bruce Rosenblum described the Shed acquisition as the real beginning of the company's international TV expansion.
“This acquisition marks an important part of our strategic growth initiative for the television group. We already have a leading position and scale in the United States, and this marks the start of the establishment of Warner Bros. as producer of quality entertainment of scale in other important countries,” Rosenblum said.
Shed's CEO Nick Southgate said the deal was a major turning point for his company as well.
“This tremendously exciting deal represents a watershed moment for Shed. It opens up a myriad of opportunities for our business, not least of which is access to Warner Bros.’ unparalleled worldwide distribution network," Southgate said.
