MONTREAL – Quebecor Media’s TVA Group today announced an agreement to buy the Serdy Media and Serdy Video group of companies for $24 million.
The acquisition, which requires CRTC approval of its broadcasting assets, would see TVA add the Évasion (french language travel and adventure) and Zeste (food and cooking) specialty channels. According to CRTC filings, Evasion had 1.8 million subscribers as of August 31 2016 (latest figures available), $12.4 million in revenue and $2.3 million in pre-tax profit. As a category B Zeste does not have to file subscriber or profitability numbers but did report revenue of $6.6 million in 2016.
TVA Group, notes the press release, was a founding shareholder of Évasion in 2000. Zeste was founded in 2010. It was formerly named Cuisine.
"These acquisitions are part of TVA Group's broader content diversification strategy. We're confident that by joining our group both channels will reach larger audiences on all platforms, and will benefit from additional resources that will help them grow their reach," said France Lauzière, president and CEO of TVA Group and chief content officer of Quebecor Content, in the release.
"This wasn't an easy decision, but it was the right decision, and necessary to sustain both channels' growth. In a fast-changing media landscape, independent specialty channels are finding it increasingly challenging to capture the public's attention. After more than 15 years at the helm, I am very happy to pass the torch to TVA. They are in the best position to secure the future of the two channels for the years to come," said Sébastien Arsenault, president and CEO of Serdy, in the same release.
25-year-old Serdy also owns some online brands, does event planning, content marketing, media planning, and other content creation.
