Sony Pictures Television (SPT) announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement to acquire CSC Media Group (CSC) in the UK.
Under the agreement, SPT will own and operate the 16 ad-supported channels in the company’s portfolio, pending regulatory approval.
The deal has been struck between SPT Networks and private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson, majority shareholders in the CSC Media Group, with SPT acquiring 100 percent of the company.
“These new channels perfectly complement our current offerings, allowing us to provide viewers with a variety of entertainment choices and advertisers with greater reach and cross-channel opportunities,” said Andy Kaplan, president of worldwide networks for Sony Pictures Television.
“CSC has grown from a small bouquet channel operator to become one of the leading multi-channel ad-supported TV networks in the UK. This combination with SPT allows us to accelerate our growth trajectory, both internationally and domestically. I very much look forward to working with the team at SPT,” said Remy Minute, CEO of CSC Media Group.
SPT entered the UK market in 2011 with one channel feed (Sony Entertainment Television) on Sky and had grown to 9 channel feeds across multiple platforms including 2 free-to-air national feeds on Freeview.
Channel brands include Sony Entertainment Television, Sony Movie Channel, Movies 4 Men, and Movie Mix.
This acquisition complements SPT’s current movie and entertainment channels and expands its offering into the music and children’s genres with the addition of brands including True Entertainment, Pop and Chart ShowTV.
Additionally, the deal expands SPT’s reach on Freeview from two to four channels. The CSC channels are also distributed internationally in Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Berenson & Company acted as exclusive financial advisor to SPT on this transaction. Lepe Partners acted as financial advisor to CSC.
CSC is one of the UK’s leading independent cable / satellite TV channel groups with a portfolio of channels across kids, music, and movies and entertainment genres.
CSC was founded in 2007 via the acquisition of the Chart Show portfolio of channels by private equity group Veronis Suhler Stevenson and a new management team.
Its channels are available on Sky Digital, Virgin Media, Freesat and on Freeview. CSC also owns and operates a number of complementary websites, on-demand services and mobile apps.
Sony Pictures Television, a Sony Pictures Entertainment company, is one of the television industry’s leading content providers.
Photo courtesy: Sony Pictures Television
