By Allison Watkinson
The Squirrel Media Group has signed a binding letter of intent to acquire 74.24% of European animation studio Mondo TV.
Under the terms of the agreement Mondo TV Studios would be integrated into Squirrel Media.
The company says it reached an agreement with Mondo TV S.p.A – one of the largest European producers and distributors of animated content – through a binding letter of intent for the integration into Squirrel Media of Mondo TV Studios.
Squirrel Media is a communication technology group chaired by Pablo Pereiro Lage. It works globally across four main business areas: advertising, communication media, content (creation and distribution of all types of audiovisual content and technology.
Under the terms of the agreement, Mondo TV Studios would become part of a leading Spanish group in technology within the media sector. The company would join Squirrel Media’s content business segment, creating a new animation vertical to produce and distribute new IPs, and at the same time offer animation services as a recurring activity engine, along with the distribution of animated content. It would also develop and build on synergies with the other business units that make up the Squirrel Media Group.
Although Mondo TV Studios would join Squirrel Media it will retain its brand identity and entire organizational structure, thus maintaining the management team led by CEO Maria Bonaria Fois along with the operational team.
“The acquisition of Mondo TV Studios, with its animation studio and its catalogue, is deeply valuable for our growth strategy, since it will mean adding to the group one of the largest European producers and distributors of animation content,” said Lage. “In addition, it will consolidate our leadership in the creation and distribution of content in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.”
Fois says the deal will help Mondo TV accelerate its already rapid growth in the children’s entertainment sector.
“The integration of Mondo TV Studios into a group with exponential growth projections such as Squirrel Media is an undoubted high point for our strategic growth plans,” Fois said.” We are grateful to Mondo TV Group for supporting us throughout all these years and helping us to reach this stage in our development. We are proud of our achievements and looking forward to a very bright future.
“We will continue to work hard on our traditional business lines, exploring synergies with the other Squirrel Media companies, as well as offering our much-admired international animation services and continuing to develop IPs that add value,” Fois added.
In addition to the deal with Squirrel, Mondo is also working with producer Kenn Viselman, who was a driving force behind successes like Teletubbies and Thomas the Tank Engine, on a new project called itsybitsy World of Wonder; a global online streaming service for kids.
Mondo and Veselman are also partnered on the hit show MeteoHeroes. See more in the story below:
Teletubbies Producer Kenn Viselman Launches Online Streaming Platform