Koch Entertainment was a music, film and television distribution company. It was purchased by E1 Entertainment in 2005 and now operates under the name E1 Entertainment.
The company began in 1975 as Koch International. Founded by Franz Koch, Koch International was an independent Austrian record label and music distribution company that specialized in German and classical music recordings.[1] For over 20 years, the company operated under the name Koch Entertainment, a music, film, and television distribution company that was started in 1987 by Franz's son Michael.
By 1991, Koch had become one of the first national independent distributors of domestic labels in the U.S. by offering an alternative to the traditional system of regional independent distribution or national major label distribution.[2] In 1992, Koch was ranked #315 on Inc. Magazine’s list of America’s 500 fastest-growing private companies, and has since grown into an entertainment conglomerate.[3] It acquired the German label Schwann of Bill Schwann, renamed Koch Schwann.[4] Koch expanded into the Canadian market in 1995 by forming the Toronto-based Koch Entertainment Canada.[5]
It was announced in 2005 that Koch was acquired by Canadian company Entertainment One (formerly ROW Entertainment for a purchase price of approximately $80 million dollars.[6] As of January 2009, Koch has been rebranded under the name E1 Entertainment.