9 Jan 2013 07:00
ENTERTAINMENT ONE LTD. COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF ALLIANCE FILMS HOLDINGS INC. ("Alliance")
9 January 2013
Entertainment One Ltd. ("eOne" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that following the announcement on 3 January 2013 regarding clearance having been received from the Canadian Competition Bureau, and the remaining conditions having been met, the Company has completed its previously announced acquisition of Alliance from affiliates of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and Investissement Québec (the "Acquisition").
Alliance is a leading independent distributor of filmed entertainment products in Canada, the United Kingdom and Spain.
The board of eOne believes that the Acquisition brings the following benefits:
·; The combination of eOne and Alliance will establish the Company as the largest independent film distributor in each of the Canadian and UK markets. The Directors of the Company believe that the Acquisition will strengthen eOne's existing film distribution business and help drive growth.
·; Alliance and eOne operate in geographies that are highly complementary and the Company will have an international reach across Canada, the United Kingdom, Benelux, Australia, the United States and Spain.
·; Alliance's film library includes some of the most commercially successful independently produced titles of the last twenty years, including Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Lord of the Rings, The King's Speech and The Hunger Games. The Company will benefit from a combined library of more than 35,000 film and television titles.
·; The Company will have increased access to the most successful independent film studios through output agreements in Canada including with The Weinstein Company, Focus Features and Relativity.
·; The Acquisition will enhance the Company's long-term growth potential through a combined investment in content of over approximately CAD$225 million per year.
·; The Directors believe that the Acquisition will deliver estimated annualised pre-tax cost synergies of at least CAD$20million (by the third anniversary of completion), driving substantial enhancement of eOne's earnings per share.1
Commenting on the completion of the Acquisition, Darren Throop, Chief Executive, said:
"We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of Alliance. We now look forward to driving the Company forward and representing the very best in independent film across all of our markets.
This acquisition represents a key strategic milestone for the Company. It further strengthens our platform, enabling us to grow across all of our Film, Television and Family businesses, as well as improving the quality of content we represent. We are now in a better position than ever to continue to create value for our shareholders and I look forward to the opportunities that the acquisition will bring."
Enquiries:
eOne +44 (0) 207 566 6720
Giles Willits
Redleaf Polhill +44 (0) 207 566 6720
Emma KaneRebecca Sanders-Hewett
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Entertainment One Ltd. (LSE:ETO) is a leading international entertainment company that specialises in the acquisition, production and distribution of film and television content. The company's comprehensive network extends around the globe including Canada, the U.S., the UK, Ireland, Spain, Benelux, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South Korea. Through established Entertainment and Distribution divisions, the company provides extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production, family programming and merchandising and licensing. Its current rights library is exploited across all media formats and includes more than 35,000 film and television titles, 2,700 hours of television programming and 45,000 music tracks.
Further information is available at www.entertainmentonegroup.com or email Redleaf Polhill at eOne@redleafpolhill.com.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
This announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of, the Company. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made by, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by, J.P. Morgan Securities plc, Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited and Cenkos Securities plc (the "Banks") or by any of their respective affiliates or agents or by any adviser to the Company or by any of their affiliates or agents as to or in relation to the accuracy or completeness of this announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers, and any responsibility or liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.
The Banks are authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority and are acting exclusively for the Company in connection with the matters set out in this announcement. The Banks are not, and will not be, responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their clients or for providing advice in relation to the proposed Acquisition or any other matters referred to in this announcement. Apart from the responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed on them by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, neither the Banks nor any of their respective affiliates, parent undertakings, subsidiary undertakings or subsidiaries of its parent undertakings or any of their respective directors, officers, employees or advisers or any other person accepts any responsibility whatsoever and makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, for or in respect of the contents of this announcement, or for any other statement made or purported to be made by them, or on their behalf, in connection with the Company or the Acquisition and nothing in this announcement is, or shall be relied upon as, a promise or representation in this respect, whether as to the past or the future. The Banks accordingly disclaim to the fullest extent permitted by law all and any responsibility and liability whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise (save as referred to above) which it might otherwise have in respect of this announcement or any such statement.
This announcement has been prepared in accordance with English law, the Listing Rules and the Disclosure Rules and Transparency Rules and information disclosed may not be the same as that which would have been prepared in accordance with the laws of jurisdictions outside England.
This announcement is for information purposes only and shall not constitute an offer or invitation to buy, or otherwise acquire, sell, otherwise dispose of or issue or subscribe for, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, sell, dispose of, acquire, issue, or subscribe for, any securities in the Company or any other entity.
Neither the content of the Company's website (or any other website) nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.
This announcement contains (or may contain) certain forward-looking statements with respect to certain of the Company's current expectations and projections about future events. These statements, which can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate", "expect", "will", "shall", "may", "plan", "project", "aim", "predict", "should", "continue" or, in each case, their negative, and words of similar meaning and/or other similar expressions, are predictions of or indicate future events and/or future trends, discussions of future strategy, plans, objectives, goals, and reflect the directors' beliefs and expectations at the date of this announcement and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results and performance to differ materially from any expected future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking statement.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Statements regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. The information contained in this announcement and the materials distributed in connection with this announcement is subject to change without notice and, except to the extent required by the FSA, the London Stock Exchange or by applicable law, the Prospectus Rules, the Listing Rules and the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, neither the Company nor the Banks assume any responsibility or obligation to update publicly, release the result of any revisions to any forward-looking statements in this announcement that may occur due to any change in the Company's expectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement, or review any of the forward-looking statements contained herein. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this announcement. A number of factors could cause results and developments of the Company's group to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, general economic and business conditions, industry trends, competition, changes in regulation, currency fluctuations, changes in its business strategy and political and economic uncertainty.
No statement in this announcement or any materials distributed in connection with this announcement is or is intended to be a profit forecast or to imply that the earnings of the Company for the current or future financial years will necessarily match or exceed the historical or published earnings of the Company.
The price of shares and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested on disposal of the shares. Past performance is no guide to future performance. If in any doubt about any of the contents of this announcement, independent professional advice should be obtained.