India-based Toonz Media Group has bought a majority stake in Irish full-service production house Telegael.
The deal will see Toonz extend its international footprint and enable it to grow into a significant 360 entertainment outfit with Telegael now providing the company with important large-scale live-action facilities and new pre and post-production capabilities.
The Emmy and IFTA-winning Galway-based production house currently employs over 300 staff and works with a range of international broadcasters and partners, co-producing both live action and animated content.
Telegael and Toonz have already established a strong working partnership with the pair currently co-producing a 52-part CGI comedy titled ‘Mondo Yan’. Spanish broadcaster TV3 and Imira are also involved in the project with the latter handling distribution having been acquired by Toonz in 2014.
The deal is seen as a complementary venture for both companies with Toonz gaining access to a highly active production house with dynamic facilities, while Telegael receive the benefits that come with joining a 400-strong indie studio that produces over 10,000 minutes of animation annually and has established production, distribution, financing and broadcasting offices in 10 major counties globally.
Established in 1988, Telegael has produced over 1,000 hours of television and boasts a client list that includes some of the biggest names in global broadcasting including ZDF, Disney, Discovery Kids, France Television, Super-RTL, KIKA, BBC, Nickelodeon, PBS Sprout and Cartoon Network.
Telegael also completed Ireland’s first ever feature length stop-motion film titled ‘Captain Morten and the Spider Queen' in 2018.
Speaking about the deal, Telegael CEO Paul Cummins said:
“The Toonz deal provides Telegael with exciting opportunities to further grow our IP and service production by becoming part of a dynamic global entertainment group with involvement and expertise in 2D & 3D production, visual FX, global distribution, financing, gaming, licensing and merchandising. The deal offers substantial synergies and the opportunity to be part of a large vertically integrated global entertainment group.”
Toonz CEO P. Jayakumar added:
“The addition of proven pre-production and post-production facilities, together with existing distribution capabilities and our globally recognized production expertise delivers synergistic and customer benefits that exceed the sum of the parts. This new acquisition will enable Toonz to deliver world class end to end services to existing and future customers across the globe.”