Vuelta Group Buys German Producer Telepool From Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith's Westbrook Inc.
Vuelta Group Buys German Producer Telepool From Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Inc.
European production and sales studio Vuelta Group has bought German producer Telepool from Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook.
The deal, struck through Vuelta subsidiary SquareOne, will see a combined business operating under the SquareOne banner. SquareOne and Vuelta Group Germany CEO Al Munteanu will lead the banner, with Michael Heyd serving as CFO and COO.
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the combined group will boast a library of over 1,200 titles such as Drive, Intouchables, Olympus Has Fallen, Transporter 3 and the recently released One Life.
“For over 60 years, Telepool has been one of the leading global content houses and we are proud of the work we did with the company, said Westbrook CEO Kosaku Yada. “We are grateful to Yoko Higuchi-Zitzmann for her leadership over the past two years. Her respect from the creative community has been instrumental in Telepool’s success.”
“The new and expanded company will be active across distribution and production,” said Munteanu. “The combined entity enables SquareOne to offer German-speaking audiences a strong and varied slate of theatrical releases going forward, across multiple genres – from ‘smarthouse’, comedies, and actioners to high-end family entertainment: The Last Breath, Lords of War, Hellboy, Broker Homefront 2, and Bambi being the first out of the gate.”
Westbrook´s EVP of Corporate Development, Ryan Ascencio, said the U.S. company was “happy to have found the right partner for Telepool with the Vuelta Group and wish them all the best as they continue their vision to expand their new and vibrant media powerhouse. We are eager to continue our collaboration on our projects going forward.”
Among Telepool’s assets is international sales division Global Screen, which shops the likes of animation productions The Amazing Maurice and Luis and the Aliens, dramas including The Collini Case and The Conference, and new titles such as World War II drama Stella – A Life and canine adventure Lassie – A New Adventure.
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