m4e & Planeta Junior Form Strategic Pact

HÖHENKIRCHEN/MUNICH/BARCELONA: m4e and Planeta Junior have entered into a long-term co-production, distribution and consumer products partnership.

Under the agreement, several rights from Planeta Junior’s IP and some of m4e’s new developments will be jointly co-produced. Both companies will also distribute each other’s audio-visual rights catalogue. Planeta Junior will concentrate on France and Southern Europe, while m4e is handling Central and Northern Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, North America, Africa and the Middle East. The two companies will jointly cover Eastern Europe.

m4e and Planeta Junior are about to combine their several teams into a strong international network. The new pact will offer a broad distribution and presence through offices in Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Poland and Benelux. An expansion into additional territories is forthcoming.

Planeta Junior and m4e will jointly acquire rights and make their services available to third-party rights owners. Both companies are currently working on a joint branding, which will be unveiled in the near future.

Hans Ulrich Stoef, the CEO of m4e, commented: “This strategic collaboration represents a major step for the m4e group in terms of deep distribution, managing our rights and consumer products business in Europe as well as financing aspects for our production slate. We share the same vision and due to our strong teams the new venture offers a huge opportunity to better control our rights portfolio and revenue streams. Right from the beginning of the discussions we felt that Planeta Junior is the natural fit for such a partnership.”

Ignacio Segura de Lassaletta, Planeta Junior’s general manager, added: “This alliance is a perfect match for both companies since m4e and Planeta Junior share the same concept of the entertainment business and we are naturally complementary in reaching the European marketplace through our local teams. This joint venture establishes the ideal framework for our creative teams to develop new and exciting properties.”