HALIFAX – DHX Media has acquired Ragdoll Worldwide Ltd. in a deal worth approximately C$28.4 million (GBP 17.4 million), the companies announced Monday.
Under the agreement, children's entertainment company DHX Media obtains 12 series, including the popular Teletubbies and In the Night Garden brands. Other series include The Adventures of Abney & Teal, BAFTA-winning Dipdap and Brum.
Ragdoll Worldwide was established as a joint venture in 2006 between BBC Worldwide, BBC's commercial arm, and children’s television producer Anne Wood's production company, Ragdoll Ltd.
"Teletubbies and In the Night Garden are worldwide phenomena”, said DHX Media CEO Michael Donovan, in the announcement. “These globally recognized brands will be highly complementary to the DHX Media library, which is now one of the largest independent libraries of children's TV content in the world."
DHX Media said that it expects the transaction to be accretive to net earnings per share for fiscal 2014, and that the deal was funded from a $25 million expansion of its current debt facility and the balance from cash reserves, including its revolving line of credit.
