Sony Completes 2waytraffic Acquisition

CULVER CITY/HILVERSUM,
June 5: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has completed its acquisition of the
Dutch formats and interactive entertainment outfit 2waytraffic.

SPE first made its offer
to acquire 2waytraffic for £114.3 million in March. The deal is part of SPE’s
efforts to bolster its formats business, bringing the Who Wants to be a
Millionaire? game show, among
other titles, to the SPE slate of offerings. SPE has a deal in place with
Michael Davies and his production company, Embassy Row, for unscripted and
scripted programming. And Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI)
recently invested in the Dutch production company Tuvalu Media, following
acquisitions of interests in Shine Productions and Gogglebox Entertainment in
the U.K. SPTI has also invested in the French company Starling, which produces
TF1’s version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. SPTI’s portfolio of successful unscripted formats
includes The Newlywed Game, Power
of 10 and Dragons’ Den. SPTI has also established itself in the
production of scripted programming with popular shows such as Los
Simuladores in Latin America, Post
Mortem in Germany and Coast
Guard in Italy.

“The acquisition of
2waytraffic is part of our strategy to expand global production and
distribution of light entertainment content,” said Michael Lynton, the chairman and CEO of SPE. “This opens the door
to new content for us, and brings to our business a solid distribution
infrastructure, strengthening our position for an efficient rollout of formats
internationally.”

“We’re excited about
acquiring 2waytraffic because it will allow us to quickly grow our presence in
the light entertainment arena,” added Michael Grindon, the president of SPTI. “Our extensive experience
in local-language television production, combined with 2waytraffic’s incredible
interactive distribution expertise, makes for a union of complementary
strengths.”

Kees Abrahams, the CEO of
2waytraffic, will continue to lead the company, which will operate as a
subsidiary of SPE. He will report to a board comprised of executives from
2waytraffic and SPTI.

Abraham noted: “I am
delighted that 2waytraffic is now part of the Sony family. To be combining and
consolidating our own ambitions with those of a company of the scope and
reputation of Sony Pictures Entertainment is an incredibly exciting development
that creates huge growth opportunities for the future."

—By Mansha Daswani