Fremantle has swooped in for Nordic Entertainment Group’s unscripted assets, Variety can reveal.
The RTL Group-owned “Got Talent” producer will use their new assets — 12 companies in all across Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark — to form Fremantle Nordics. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close later this year.
The Scandinavian NENT Group has had its unscripted assets on the sales block since early 2020. The companies included are Strong Productions (Denmark); Grillifilms, Moskito Television and Production House (Finland); Monster, Novemberfilm, One Big Happy Family, Playroom, Rakett and Strix TV (Norway); Baluba and Strix Television (Sweden).
One of the best known formats from NENT’s unscripted roster is “The Farm,” which has aired in 50 territories, and throws a group of men and women on a farm to hack country life.
The companies join Fremantle’s existing Nordic production outfits, which operate as Fremantle in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, as well as the separate Miso Films, producers of “The Investigation,” “The Rain” and “Those Who Kill,” and Blu, which makes “X Factor.”
NENT Group recently sold off its U.K. operations, as well, with All3Media picking up the production and distribution outfit, best know for shows like “Doc Martin” and “The Cry.”
The rationale behind the sales is to allow NENT Group to streamline operations and more keenly focus on its scripted efforts. The company is a major international co-production player through its streaming outfit Viaplay.
Jennifer Mullin, CEO of Fremantle, said: “This is an exciting opportunity both to grow our presence in the Nordics and embrace a wealth of exceptional new talent into the Fremantle family. Nordic IP is hugely successful internationally, and with our ability to amplify distribution on a global level, I am confident we will be able to take the great content produced by these labels to an even wider audience.”
Gabriel Catrina, NENT Group executive VP and chief financial officer, added: “We are confident that Fremantle’s global reach will create many opportunities for these fine businesses. This agreement concludes the divestments of all the Studios assets that we had planned for. Our remaining Studios assets will now focus primarily on delivering scripted content exclusively for Viaplay.”
K.J. Yossman contributed to this report.