STV Pays $27.2M For ‘Lego Masters’ Firm Greenbird Media

Jesse Whittock
·5 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

STV has confirmed the acquisition of Lego Masters firm Greenbird Media, following Deadline’s exclusive report yesterday in the UK.

The Scottish network’s production arm, STV Studios, has paid an initial £21.4M ($27.2M) for the company, whose assets include majority stakes in Lego Masters maker Tuesday’s Child Television and Crackit Productions. Israel’s Keshet International was previously the majority owner, with a 60% stake.

More from Deadline

Yesterday, we told you STV was nearing a deal for Greenbird, whose sale has been in the works since last year.

The deal boosts the number of labels within STV Studios from nine to 24, as it aims to become the UK’s top producer from outside of London — a sector known within the country’s TV sector as the nations and regions. STV will get new bases in Glasgow and London, and offices in Cardiff, Belfast, Brighton and Manchester.

Greenbird founders Jamie Munro and Stuart Mullin will join the STV Studios board in the roles of Chief Commercial Officer and Finance & Integration Director respectively, working alongside Chief Operating Officer Paul Sheehan and under the leadership of Managing Director David Mortimer.

Since launch more than a decade ago, London-based Greenbird has operated with an incubator model, investing in British indies, providing them with office space, back office resources, and financial and strategic advice. Greenbird network’s will produce more than 350 hours of programming across 25 returning series this year.

“Growing STV Studios into the UK’s number one nations and regions production company is one of our core strategic objectives,” said STV CEO Simon Pitts. “This transformative acquisition represents a major step towards that goal, adding significant scale and creative firepower to the group and immediately accelerating STV’s overall diversification in terms of both revenue and profit.

“We’re delighted to be partnering with Greenbird and to welcome their incredibly talented network of creative leaders to the STV family as we jointly aim to grow our production base in the UK and internationally.”

Greenbird indies are responsible for shows such as Lego Masters, The Hit List (both Tuesday’s Child), The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan and Late Night Lycett (Rumpus Media); Kate Garraway: Caring for Derek (Flicker Productions), and Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (Owl Power). Lego Masters has sold into 20 territories.

“This is an exciting new chapter in Greenbird’s history,” said Mullin and Munro in a statement this morning. “We are hugely proud of the Greenbird incubator model we have built. It has given creatives space to flourish and deliver some of the most innovative, entertaining and loved programmes in the UK. Their creative power is unrivaled and has been recognized by viewers, critics, awards panels and through the volume of international sales that their shows have generated.

“We’re delighted to be working with Simon and David at STV. We look forward to a future together helping a wider network of creatives realise their ambitions.”

The move comes five years after Keshet International acquired a majority stake in Greenbird, which launched in 2012 under the leadership of Munro, who was previously boss of Shine TV and Mullin, former finance chief at Wall to Wall and Argonon. BBC Worldwide (now BBC Studios) was an initial investor. We understand Munro, Mullins and Tuesday’s Child boss Karen Smith were the other shareholders.

Mullin and Munro said: “We’ve had a great five years in partnership with Keshet International and would like to thank them for all their support during this time.”

Headquartered in Scotland, STV is a listed broadcasting and production company that turned over £138M last year. Its production arm, STV Studios, is making the likes of Apple TV+ drama Criminal Record and was behind Channel 4’s Screw. 

The Greenbird deal means STV majority stakes in Tuesday’s Child, which makes UK Lego Masters and co-produces Fox’s U.S. version, and a minority in X Files EP Frank Spotnitz’s indie Big Light Productions and Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back producer Rumpus Media. Greenbird also majority-owns Crackit Productions and has other minority interests in the likes of Hello Halo, Interstellar and Top Hat. The stakes range from 75% in Crackit to 5% in Stacey Dooley’s label Little Dooley, according to Greenbird’s latest Companies House accounts.

Keshet, meanwhile, will use the proceeds of the deal, whose cost could rise to £24M, to invest in global production and distribution, with an increased focus on scripted content. Recent productions Keshet UK’s False Flag remake Suspicion starring Uma Thurman and Keshet Studios’ When Heroes Fly remake Echo 3  – both for Apple TV+.

“We’ve had a great five years working alongside Jamie and Stuart, the Greenbird team, and the talented indies within their stable to take all their businesses to the next level,” said Keshet International CEO Karen Shahar. “It’s been a really successful partnership for everyone involved, and a great investment for Keshet International. During this time, our working relationships have grown into strong friendships that I know will continue long into the future.

“Now it’s time for the next stage of Greenbird’s development, where STV takes the reins and continues this pattern of growth, fueled with the obvious synergies between the two companies, to create one great British institution. We wish them all the best with their future endeavors, as we at KI continue our mission to bring great content to TV screens around the world, both as a global producer and distributor.”

Munro will remain Keshet UK MD for a three-mont handover period. The company recently appointed Christine Healey as COO. The producer’s current projects include a British adaptation of Kuma Studios’ A Body That Works.

Keshet’s UK production and distribution staff currently based at the Greenbird offices will continue up until the end of 2023, at which point Keshet International will open its own central London offices. Keshet will continue to sell titles such as Tuesday’s Child’s The Hit List and Killer Camp and Crackit’s Trucking Hell and Bad Habits Holy Orders. New projects may be acquired on a case-by-case basis.

GothamStreet advised Greenbird on the sale.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.