Acquisition

20 Aug 2007 07:01

Entertainment One Ltd20 August 2007 20 August 2007 Entertainment One Ltd. Acquisition of Seville Pictures Inc Entertainment One Ltd. ("Entertainment One"), the international film and homeentertainment business, today announces that its Canadian subsidiary Videoglobe1 Inc. has agreed to acquire Seville Entertainment Inc. ("Seville"), a leadingCanadian film distribution company and entertainment rights owner. Seville acts as an integrated distributor and international sales agent forfeature films and TV programming across all media channels (includingtheatrical, DVD and TV broadcast). Recent releases include 2007 Academy Awardnominated films "Volver", starring Penelope Cruz and "After the Wedding"directed by Susanne Bier as well as "War" starring Jet Li and Jason Statham. Seville will complement Entertainment One's existing Canadian businesses, addinga theatrical release capability and core strength in the distribution andexploitation of French language and Canadian-produced content. The Seville filmrights library of over 500 films is a significant addition to EntertainmentOne's existing entertainment content in Canada, the US and the UK. Seville is being acquired for a total consideration of C$6 million(approximately £2.8 million), payable by the issue of 67,200 ordinary shares inEntertainment One Ltd (the "Consideration Shares") and C$5.85 million(approximately £2.7 million) in cash. Darren Throop, CEO of the Company, said: "The acquisition of Seville representsa further significant step in Entertainment One's strategy of developing aleading international content ownership and distribution business. Sevilleprovides the business with a robust film distribution platform for the Canadianmarket, complements our existing operations in Canada and adds further premiumcontent to Entertainment One's growing library of entertainment rights." Admission to trading on AIM of the Consideration Shares, which rank pari passuin all respects with the existing ordinary shares, is expected to take place on24 August 2007. The total number of ordinary shares in issue following the issueof the Consideration Shares will be 127,097,597. EnquiriesFinsburyFaeth Birch/Peter Russell +44 (0)20 7251 3801 Entertainment One Ltd.Giles Willits (Group CFO) +44 (0)20 7004 2755 Collins Stewart (NOMAD)Seema Patterson / Ellen Francis +44 (0)20 7523 8350 Kaupthing, Singer & Friedlander Capital Markets LimitedMarc Young +44 (0)20 3205 7500 About Entertainment One Ltd (LSE: ETO) History Admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in March2007, Entertainment One Ltd's strategy is to build a leading internationalindependent entertainment content ownership and distribution business.Entertainment One is Canada's largest wholesale distributor of homeentertainment products. It also owns Koch Entertainment, the largest independentrecord label in North America and a leading independent distributor of music andvideo in the United States, and Contender Entertainment Group, the leadingindependent distributor of filmed entertainment on DVD in the UK. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange