Telenet increases its stake in Caviar Group from 49% to 70%
Mechelen, Sept. 26, 2022 - Telenet announces that it increases its stake in production house Caviar Group from 49% to 70%, and will fully consolidate Caviar in its financial figures as of October 1. Telenet stepped into the production house in May 2021, based on a shared ambition to make our strong local content and talents more profitable worldwide.
A year and a half after its entry into the international content studio Caviar, Telenet is increasing its stake from 49% to 70%. From October 1, Caviar will also be fully consolidated in Telenet’s financial results. Caviar Group will continue to function as an independent content studio, however. The remaining shares stay in the hands of current shareholders Bert Hamelinck (CEO Caviar and responsible for scripted content), Mathias Coppens (responsible for the TV division Roses Are Blue) and Michael Sagol (Chief Talent Officer and responsible for branded content internationally). The day-to-day management of Caviar remains in the hands of the current leadership team, which continues to be strongly committed to the long term.
Years of success
Caviar had very successful years in 2021 and 2022. Locally, it scored with the hit series ‘F*** you very much’ and new TV programs such as ‘Restaurant Misverstand’. Formats such as ‘Code van Coppens (The Way Out)’ and ‘Down The Road’ have been sold to broadcasters in the Netherlands, Poland, Denmark and the Middle East. There were international remakes of ‘Professor T’ for ITV and, most recently, ‘Bad Sisters’ (based on Clan) for Apple TV+. Caviar's films were awarded, with 2 Oscars for ‘Sound of Metal’ in 2021 and the Caméra d'Or for ‘War Pony’ at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Adil El Arbi & Billal Fallah's new film ‘Rebel’ is coming to theaters next month. There was also great growth in branded content, with campaigns for brands such as Amazon, Samsung and Coca-Cola, and 4 Caviar-produced ads at the most recent Super Bowl. All of this generated record results, with the company far exceeding its targets.
John Porter, CEO Telenet: “We absolutely believe in the continued growth of Caviar. We found each other a year and a half ago in a shared vision of the international potential of our local talent and content. Caviar has a proven track record in creating content that also scores well internationally. We have been impressed by their results over the past 18 months and robust pipeline going forward. This helped us decide to increase our stake in the company to 70%.”
Bert Hamelinck, CEO of Caviar: “Caviar's success is only there thanks to all our creative talents and a very close and passionate team in all our entities and branches. We are therefore very grateful to them for their trust and boundless commitment, and, together with them, we are very proud that we can further expand our own vision and strategy worldwide with the support of Telenet.
Financial figures
In 2021, Caviar Group closed the year with revenues of €126.4 million and an EBITDA of €8.8 million (numbers excluding Caviar Paris, which will not be consolidated). The consolidation of Caviar Group as of October 1 will have no impact on Telenet's outlook for the financial year 2022.
Telenet and participations in entertainment
The increase in its stake in Caviar is in line with the long-term entertainment strategy of Telenet. The company has been investing in the Flemish media landscape for years, including through Woestijnvis and SBS (Play4, Play5, Play6 and Play7). With The Park, Telenet is also committed to further broadening its entertainment offering with virtual reality experiences. The overall objective is to ensure that the local television sector has sufficient oxygen to continue to create quality productions. In addition to maximizing these within its own customer base and the Flemish market, efforts are also being made to make the most of growth opportunities abroad.
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Press contact Caviar
Eva Custers
Eva.custers@caviar.tv
+32 497 58 11 06
Press contact Telenet
Isabelle Geeraerts
press@telenetgroup.be
+32 15 33 55 44