Fremantle Buys into Lux Vide

Fremantle has acquired a 70 percent stake in the Italian production company Lux Vide.

The Bernabei family will retain the remaining 30 percent. Luca Bernabei will continue as CEO of Lux Vide. Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle’s group COO and CEO for continental, will assume the role of chairman of Lux Vide, while Matilde Bernabei will become honorary chairman and also serve on the management board.

Lux Vide, launched in 1992, has over 1,300 hours of prime-time original scripted content. Hit original scripted series produced by Lux Vide include The Bible Collection, sold in 144 countries; Don Matteo, now in its 13th season; DOC, a medical drama on RAI; and Buongiorno, mamma!, Mediaset’s most-watched series in the last three years.

Luca Bernabei said: “The Lux Vide collaboration with Fremantle confirms our long-term global strategy and international vision. We are excited to now be joining forces and partnering with Andrea Scrosati, who we have built a much valued and trusted relationship over many years and the incredibly talented Fremantle team. The synergies between the two companies are clear to see and everyone within the Lux Vide team is looking forward to embracing this new partnership and the many opportunities it represents to us all. The Bernabei family will remain at the helm of the company proudly founded by my father Ettore, as shareholders, as managers, but above all as reference points for our creativity, editorial line and our incredible production team. A team that has achieved consistent successes over three decades and is now committed and firmly focused on the future and building the exciting next chapter as part of an even larger family at Fremantle.”

Scrosati said: “Fremantle is a business based on unique talent, creative ideas, and a capacity to brilliantly deliver, working with the right partners across the world. We are proud and honored that the incredible talent at Lux Vide has chosen to be part of our family. To share with us their professionalism, their ideas and their vision. I have no doubt that together we will deliver many extraordinary shows to a global stage, continuing to make the Fremantle slate even stronger. This deal underlines Fremantle’s strategic plan to invest and grow in the scripted arena, a strategy that enabled the company to deliver 81 scripted shows across the world in 2021. A special thanks to Luca, Matilde and Roberto Bernabei, for choosing to share with us their passion and the company their father created 30 years ago.”