TV production company acquired by international media giant

A Bristol TV production has been acquired by French media giant Mediawan for an undisclosed amount.

The youth entertainment division of the European company has acquired a majority stake in Wildseed Studios.

Wildseed is best known for its programmes The Last Bus and Hungerford.

The deal is the first international acquisition for the French owned business.

Wildseed Studios was founded in 2013 by Jesse Cleverly, the former head of co-productions and acquisitions at BBC Children’s, and Miles Bullough former head of broadcast at Aardman Animations.

“Wildseed Studios is a renowned and well-established U.K. producer with a strong network of international talent and partners. They have a unique take on innovation and a real know-how on talent incubation,” said Julien Borde, president of Mediawan Kids & Family.

“Wildseed will pursue the development of its own slate of content but also partner with Mediawan studios in Europe to bring new co-productions to the market.

“Through this acquisition we’re looking to expand the presence of Kids & Family internationally, in line with what Mediawan has been doing successfully.”

Bullough said it was always Wildseed Studio’s intention to join a bigger company.

He added: “We started the company with outside investors, and it was our promise to them that one day we would realize value for them.

“We were also looking for an opportunity to be part of a larger group and not be quite so exposed to the occasional ups and downs of our industry, and we wanted [to land in a group] that could help us grow and take our company to the next level.

“Mediawan Kids & Family is incredibly experienced and well known in our industry and can help us to invest and grow the company to something even something bigger and even more successful.”

Bristol law firm Roxburgh Milkins advised Wildseed on the the deal.