International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised leading mid-market private equity firm, LDC, and the Plimsoll Productions management team on the sale of a majority interest in Plimsoll Productions to ITV plc in a transaction that values the independent television production company at £131m.

Headquartered in Bristol, the international centre of the natural history television industry, Plimsoll is one of the largest independent television production companies in the UK. Its BAFTA, EMMY and Academy Award-winning team specialises in wildlife, documentary and factual entertainment shows and is the biggest independent producer of natural history programmes in the world. The business has produced more than 70 series for broadcasters including Netflix, Disney, Apple and National Geographic.

Plimsoll will remain an independent brand following the transaction. The company’s existing management and creative teams will continue to run the business and play a key role in programme development to maintain Plimsoll’s creative pipeline.

The transaction will help Plimsoll to continue to expand its premium factual offering, while supporting ITV’s strategy to grow its international content business, ITV Studios. The broadcaster plans to leverage Plimsoll’s strong relationships with global streaming services and take advantage of increasing demand for natural history and factual programming.

Osborne Clarke's team was led by corporate Partner Alisdair Livingstone, who also advised LDC on its minority investment in Plimsoll in 2019. Alisdair was supported by Associate Director James Taylor, Associate Hannah Stevens, Senior Associate Alec Bartlett and Trainee Solicitor David Morgan (Corporate), as well as Partner David Nisbet and Associate Director Rob Thomas (Tax) and Partner Michael Carter (Incentives).

Osborne Clarke's corporate team is considered a go-to practice for many companies in the tech, media and comms sector, working with global businesses to fast-growth start-ups and market challengers. The team advises at every stage of company development across all corporate issues, from equity and debt fundraisings to M&A, IPOs and JVs.

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