Lagardère Active announces the acquisition of spanish audiovisual production group Grupo Boomerang TV

Lagardère Active has secured a majority stake of 82% in Grupo Boomerang TV (Grupo BTV). The remaining 18% stake will still be held by the founding partners who will continue in the day to day management of the Group.

Created in 1998, Grupo BTV is one of Spain’s leading independent audiovisual production groups (fiction and unscripted) and has launched expansions in several Latin American countries. The company had a turnover of 42.4 million euros in 2014.

With a catalogue of 23 fiction and over 100 entertainment programs, Grupo BTV is a key partner and content provider for Spain’s leading audiovisual groups (among which Atresmedia, Mediaset España and RTVE …).

Grupo BTV is a leading player in the production of original hit fiction series (El Secreto de Puente Viejo [The Secret of Puente Viejo] / El tiempo entre costuras [The time in Between] or Los misterios de Laura [Mysteries of Laura], among others). Besides creating big hits for the main Spanish broadcastings companies, Grupo BTV has been able to sell its products in relevant geographic areas. The series drew huge interest from all over the world and The Time in Between has already gone a long way on the international market and has already been acquired in key territories such as Latin America on Netflix and is the Best-Selling Spanish series in Asia. Mysteries of Laura, has also been very successful and has been adapted by Warner for NBC.
Grupo Boomerang TV also produces the licensed adaptations in Spain of unscripted formats such as The Voice, Peking Express and Top Chef, and covers a wide spectrum of genres (telenovelas, cop shows, comedies, dramas and sitcoms, talent shows, reality TV, game shows, talk shows, and more).

For Denis Olivennes, President of Lagardère Active, “the international expansion of Lagardère Entertainment’s branch of Lagardère Active, and France’s leading audiovisual production group ‘is a strategic issue. This acquisition is the fruit of three years of patient searching by Takis Candilis and his teams of alliances with talented companies in Europe that share our vision for the future, especially in the face of large multinational groups and a surge of new players from the web. With Arnaud Lagardère’s full support from day one, we have the drive and means necessary to reach critical mass on the European audiovisual production market; this acquisition is a first step to get us there.“

“From the very beginning of our discussions, we recognized in Boomerang’s management the same passion we have for our jobs as producers of audiovisual content,” says Takis Candilis, President of Lagardère Entertainment. “So it is with particular pleasure that we welcome them into the Lagardère Entertainment fold. With this acquisition, Lagardère Entertainment will become a leading presence in 2 European countries. What’s more, thanks to Boomerang, we’ll establish a presence in Latin America via their subsidiary in Chile and with a growing presence in Colombia, thus reinforcing our expansion strategy in fast-growing countries, as in Africa.“

Pepe Abril, Pedro Ricote and Juan José Diaz, Founding partners and General Managers of Grupo BTV, add: “We are very proud to be part of Lagardère Entertainment. We are convinced that this agreement will be very positive for the company and expect may good things to come with it. Along with a leading Group we will be able to reach unique opportunities for growth and expansion. Furthermore, we will keep working hard to increase our position as one of the leading audiovisual companies in the Spanish market and to consolidate our strategic expansion in Latin America.”