STV pays $27.2 million for 'Lego Masters' company Greenbird Media

STV has confirmed the acquisition of Lego Masters Greenbird Media, following Deadline's exclusive report yesterday.

Scottish network production arm STV Studios paid an initial $21.4M £ ($27.2m) for the company, whose assets include majority stakes in Child Television and Lego Masters maker Tuesday's Crackit Productions. Israel's Keshet International was previously the majority owner, with a 60% stake.

Yesterday we told you that STV was close to closing a deal for Greenbird, whose sale has been ongoing since last year.

The deal increases the number of labels within STV Studios from nine to 24, as it aims to become the UK's leading producer outside of London – an area known in the country's television industry as Nations and Regions.

Greenbird founders Jamie Munro and Stuart Mullin to join STV Studios board in roles Chief Commercial Officer and Director of Finance and Integration respectively, working alongside Chief Operating Officer Paul Sheehan and reporting to Managing Director David Mortimer. »

Since launching over a decade ago, London-based Greenbird has operated with a model as an incubator, investing in British indies, providing them with office space, back-office resources and financial and strategic advice.

"Making STV Studios the premier production company for nations and regions in the UK is the one of our main strategic objectives. said STV CEO Simon Pitts. "This transformative acquisition represents a major step towards that goal, adding significant scale and creative firepower to the group and immediately accelerating STV's overall diversification in revenue and earnings.

"We are thrilled to partner with Greenbird and welcome their incredibly talented network of creative leaders to the STV family as we jointly aim to grow our production base in the UK and internationally.

"This is an exciting new chapter in Greenbird history," Mullin and Munro said in a statement this morning. “We are extremely proud of the Greenbird incubator model we have built. It has given creatives space to thrive and deliver some of the UK's most innovative, entertaining and beloved programming. Their creative power is unmatched and has been recognized by viewers, critics, award juries and through the volume of international sales their shows have generated.

“We are delighted to be working with Simon and David at STV. We look forward to a future together helping a wider network of creatives realize their ambitions."

The move comes five years after Keshet International acquired a majority stake in Greenbird, launched in 2012 under the executive name of Munro, who was previously boss of Shine TV and Mullin, former chief financial officer of Wall to Wall and Argonon. BBC Worldwide (now BBC Studios) was an initial investor. We understand that Munro, Mullins and Tuesday's Child boss Karen Smith were the other shareholders.

Mullin and Munro said:"We had a great five years in partnership with Keshet International and I would like to thank them for all their support during this time.”

Scotland-based STV is a top-grossing listed broadcast and production company £138 million in business last year. Its production arm, STV Studios, makes series like Apple TV+ Criminal Record and was behind Channel 4's Screw.

The Greenb...