Entertainment One
 | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | LSE: ETO |
| Industry |
Music Film Television Distribution Music Publishing |
| Founder(s) | Michael Koch |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario |
| Key people |
James Corsellis (Non-Executive Chairman) Darren Throop (Chief Executive Officer) Giles Willits (Chief Financial Officer) Patrice Theroux (President, Film) Clare Copeland (Senior Independent Director) Bob Allan (Non-executive director) Ronald Atkey (Non-executive director) Garth Girvan (Non-executive director) Mark Opzoomer (Non-executive director) |
| Revenue | £629.1 million (2013)[1] |
| Operating income | £13.7 million (2013)[1] |
| Net income | £(1.1) million (2013)[1] |
| Owner(s) |
Marwyn Value Investors LLP (A unit of Marwyn Investment Management) (26.5%) M&G Investment Management (13.3%) Capital Group Companies (6.8%) Schroders (4.8%) Fidelity (3.7%) (remaining 44.9% ownership interest is publicly traded) |
| Divisions |
eOne Music eOne Distribution eOne Canada eOne Music Publishing eOne Home Video eOne Films eOne Television |
| Subsidiaries | Momentum Pictures |
| Website | www.e1ent.com |
Entertainment One, Ltd., also known as eOne, is an international entertainment corporation operating in the United States, Canada, the UK, Spain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand.[2] It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
History
Entertainment One began operations in 1973 in Ontario, Canada, as Records on Wheels Limited (‘ROW’), founded and operated by Vito Ierullo and Don Ierullo, focusing on retail sales of recorded music. In the late 1970s, ROW began to distribute recorded music for third-party retailers in Canada. For more than 20 years, entertainment content distribution became ROW’s primary focus as the company expanded into video, purchasing one of Canada’s largest home entertainment distributors, Video One Canada. In November 2003, ROW listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange as ROW Entertainment Income Fund. It changed its name to Entertainment One Income Fund. The role of Chief Executive Officer of Entertainment One Income Fund was given to the current CEO of eOne by Vito Ierullo.[3]
In June 2005, Entertainment One Income Fund acquired Koch Entertainment,[4] North America’s largest independent music label and a large U.S. distributor of home-entertainment products. The combined company, renamed Entertainment One (a.k.a. eOne), had a comprehensive U.S.-Canadian distribution network and began acquiring rights for specialty content. In 2007, in a move to fund expansion into independent, feature-film distribution and rights ownership, eOne's investors accepted a private equity takeover by a unit of UK-based Marwyn Investment Management valued at $188 million and listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market.[5]
In 2007, Entertainment One acquired Montreal-based film distributor Seville Pictures and UK distributor Contender Entertainment. [6] The same year, the company secured its first film output agreement with Summit Entertainment – a deal which included the future cinematic and home-video Twilight film series (a teen romance about vampires based on a best-selling book of the same name).[7] Acquisitions continued in 2008 with the purchase of leading Benelux distributor RCV Entertainment. The same year, eOne created its television arm, purchasing production companies Blueprint and Barna-Alper and international television distributor Oasis International.[8]
On May 28, 2012, Entertainment One placed a bid to purchase Alliance Films from Goldman Sachs Group and Investissement Quebec, similar to the purchase of Maple Pictures a year prior.[9][10]
On January 9, 2013, Entertainment One completed the transaction of Alliance Films for $225 million. With this deal, eOne will distribute titles from The Weinstein Company and Lionsgate as well as Summit Entertainment, and Focus Features in Canada.[11]
eOne Films
eOne Films, formerly Koch-Lorber Films, acquires film content rights and distributes these across multiple territories including Canada, the UK, the Benelux and the United States. Distribution channels include theatrical distribution, home entertainment through DVD/Blu-ray rental and retail, television, and digital downloading service.
eOne Television
eOne Television is a television content business with production, international sales, licensing and merchandising capabilities in Canada and the UK.
In Canada, the business sells and distributes both its own productions and third party catalogues to over 500 broadcasters in 150 countries, including the major U.S. networks, Canadian broadcasters and international pay TV providers. With offices in Toronto, LA and London, eOne Television is involved in the creation, production and international distribution of TV content across all genres. eOne has recently made deals with major broadcasters in the U.S. and around the world with series such as Hung for HBO,[12] The Firm currently airing on NBC, The Bridge, currently airing on CTV[13] and Rookie Blue premiering Summer 2010 on ABC and Canwest.[14] Haven, currently in production, has been picked up by Syfy Channel,[15] Canwest and Tele Munchen Group and production recently wrapped on the first season of Call Me Fitz starring Jason Priestley.[16]
eOne Music
Based in New York City, eOne Music, formerly E1 Music/Koch Records, is generally regarded as the largest independent music label in North America.[17] Since its inception as Koch Records, eOne Music has charted over 100 albums on Billboard's Independent Chart, surpassing the number of titles charted by all other U.S. independent labels and was the number one independent label according to Billboard for four consecutive years. The music division covers all musical genres from adult-contemporary to rock, urban to country, children's to classical.
eOne Family
In the UK, eOne Family (formerly E1 Kids) creates, produces and distributes children’s entertainment with broadcasting partners including Nick Jr and Channel 5, across 190 territories including the U.S., Scandinavia, France and Germany. eOne Family’s Peppa Pig franchise is one on the most popular pre-school brands in the UK, surpassing over £100 million in retail sales in the 2009 financial period.[18]
eOne Distribution
eOne Distribution division delivers, through both physical and digital channels, eOne’s own and third party content to over 3,000 retail partners through its networks across Canada and the U.S.[19] The division provides distribution services to a wide range of content producers, including the major Hollywood studios.
