BDO advises on acquisition of Worcestershire special effects company
SPECIALISTS at BDO in Birmingham have successfully advised on the acquisition of a Worcestershire special effects business by a US events management and entertainment company.
XL Video’s UK operation has offices in Bromsgrove and Hemel Hempstead. It has been acquired in an undisclosed deal by New York-based Production Resource Group.
Accounts filed with Companies House for the year ended October 31, 2013 show XL recorded turnover of £24.3m, gross profit of £11.3m and a post-tax profit of £291,000.
The BDO Transaction Services team carried out financial and tax due diligence for PRG ahead of the transaction.
XL Video, founded in 1995, is a leading video services supplier around the world. The company is a multi-award winning provider of creative video solutions for concert touring, corporate events, exhibitions, automotive, television, sports and theatre.
It has recently undertaken a major project as part of this year’s Edinburgh Festival where it was asked to create a spectacular opening for the event and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus. Collaborating with 59 Productions, it created The Harmonium Project.
The free outdoor event drew in crowds of approximately 19,500 people and combined the music of John Adams’ choral work Harmonium, made especially by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Edinburgh Festival Chorus conducted by Peter Oundjian, with visually stunning projection mapping onto the Usher Hall in central Edinburgh.
Headquartered in New York, PRG is a leading global supplier of entertainment and event technology to a wide range of markets including corporate and automotive events, live music tours and festivals, public, sports and major events, theatre, television and film.
Richard Williams, Chief Finance Officer, PRG Europe, said: “Based on the performance of the BDO team during our acquisition of Gearhouse in 2014, we did not hesitate in engaging BDO to assist us on our recent acquisition of XL Video.
“The BDO team once again proved to be an indispensable part of our team providing critical advice and support during the acquisition. Their proactive and flexible approach and understanding of the key commercial issues were key to our acquisition decision making process. We look forward to working with BDO again on future transactions.”
