ITV Purchases Indie Producer The Garden

LONDON: ITV plc has acquired the independent producer The Garden, which is behind the hits 24 Hours in A&E and The Audience, for £18 million ($27.4 million).

Launched in June 2010, The Garden has supplied a number of factual programs to the BBC and Channel 4. For Channel 4, the company did 24 Hours in A&E and The Audience, both of which are BAFTA contenders this year, as well as Inside Claridge’s for BBC Two. Also for Channel 4, The Garden produced Seven Dwarves, and for BBC Two The Midwives and Keeping Britain Alive.

ITV Studios has had a joint development agreement with The Garden in place since 2011. ITV Studios Global Entertainment also distributes the majority of The Garden’s content.

Kevin Lygo, the managing director of ITV Studios, said: “The Garden has grown rapidly and achieved an enviable reputation for outstanding delivery of innovative, ambitious documentary series for the BBC and Channel 4.  

“A key focus for ITV is to develop hit programs which we can then export globally and The Garden already has an impressive track record. Its flagship title, 24 Hours in A&E, is not only a hit for Channel 4, but has sold to nearly 100 territories around the world and is now in production with series four and five. I’m delighted that Nick, Magnus and The Garden team are joining ITV Studios.”

Nick Curwin and Magnus Temple, The Garden co-founders, said: “We have a trusting, creative and fruitful relationship with ITV Studios, having previously joined forces to bolster our development efforts. We have been talking for some time about how to extend this partnership to mutual strategic advantage.

“The values and ethos of The Garden will remain unchanged, as will our appetite for innovation, our insistence on delivering to the highest standards and our focus on the key relationships we’ve built up over the years. Being part of ITV will help us grow further in the U.K. and, in particular, to achieve our international ambitions. We will be working more closely with ITVS whilst continuing to concentrate as hard as ever on our important relationships with Channel 4 and the BBC. We are both totally committed to this new venture and we look forward to many successful and exciting years ahead with our new partners.”