Prime Focus, the world’s largest integrated media services company, has announced the sale of its UK Broadcast Post Production business to new company blue 2.0. Under the terms of the agreement, which both parties are expecting to be finalised in the two weeks, blue 2.0 will take over the Prime Focus UK Broadcast facility at 58 Old Compton Street and the provision of its long-form, drama, short-form, entertainment and DI services.
The new company will employ the majority of the current Prime Focus staff at Old Compton Street, and the phased transition of the business to the new owners will begin immediately. The specific terms of the transaction have not been disclosed and they do not exceed prudent financial materiality thresholds.
Regarding the sale, Prime Focus MD Ramki Sankaranarayanan said: “Following an extensive process in which we have considered a number of offers, Prime Focus has reached an agreement for the sale of its UK Broadcast Post offering. We would like to thank all of our UK Broadcast clients for their support over the years, and assure them that the phased transition of the business to the new owners has been constructed to be as seamless as possible. The divestment of this business allows us to concentrate our full efforts on our core creative services divisions (Prime Focus World and Double Negative) and our cloud technology business (Prime Focus Technologies) in addition to the broad spectrum of media services business in India.”
Prime Focus is retaining its Content Services offering (which provides services to long-standing clients such as the BFI and the Imperial War Museum), and a number of large-scale contracts with clients such as Red Bee Media, a major car manufacturer and a global consumer product brand. These contracts will continue to be serviced by Prime Focus staff from the company’s facility at 2 Bourchier Street.
Commenting on the acquisition, blue 2.0 MD Parvinder Bhatia said: “This deal marks the return of the iconic ‘blue’ brand in a new digital avatar – ‘blue 2.0’. Backed by a group of private equity investors, blue 2.0 will offer broadcast clients a boutique post production offering with a focused approach and a personalized service. blue 2.0 plans to be a major new player in the Broadcast post production space and plans are underway to add more capacity and additional service offerings such as VFX to the existing post offering very soon.”
Having served as MD of Prime Focus’ UK Broadcast Post Production services for the last four years, Rowan Bray is moving on to explore new opportunities. Ramki commented: “I would like to thank Rowan for her commitment and tireless hard work over the last four years. Her dedication to providing the highest levels of customer service has been greatly appreciated, and we wish her all the best with the new opportunities that she is considering.”