ITV Studios has acquired Eagle Eye Drama.
The team behind international streamer Walter Presents, which has made the likes of Professor T for ITV and The Couple Next Door for Channel 4, will become part of the ITV Studios indie stable via an undisclosed majority stake deal.
As part of the deal, ITV Studios has also acquired a majority stake in the Belgium-based production services company Happy Duck, led by producer and director Dries Vos (Professor T, The Couple Next Door), which services Eagle Eye’s global slate.
Eagle Eye was previously part of the Channel 4 Growth Fund, with the network now exiting its 25% stake.
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Eagle Eye is run by Walter Iuzzolino, Jo McGrath and Jason Thorp, the former being the well-known face of Walter Presents.
The company launched in 2018 and has since gone on to make a number of returning shows including Professor T and Hotel Portofino, Channel 4’s Before We Die and Suspect, as well as The Couple Next Door, which Channel 4 said was its biggest ever scripted streaming launch. Professor T, starring Ben Miller and adapted from the Belgian series of the same name, has sold to more than 120 territories worldwide, according to ITV Studios, with Hotel Portofino airing in more than 70 territories.
Julian Bellamy, Managing Director of ITV Studios, said: “Since launching Eagle Eye just five years ago, Walter, Jo and Jason have built a really impressive scripted business. Disruptive, innovative and international, Eagle Eye has carved out a real point of difference in the market”
Iuzzolino added: “The team has built ITV Studios into the most exciting production powerhouse in the UK, and we are incredibly proud and honoured to be joining them, and the distinguished list of extraordinary creative minds, for the next phase of Eagle Eye’s growth trajectory.”
ITV Studios has had a big M&A year having also snapped up Sherlock producer Hartswood Films while selling its 45% in Blumhouse TV. More broadly, the market appears ripe again, with Sony Pictures Television yesterday unveiling a majority stake deal for the new label run by The Salisbury Poisonings creators Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, while All3Media boss Jane Turton has been talking up scripted acquisitions.
Helion advised the shareholders of Eagle Eye and Happy Duck on the transaction.
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