MTG buys Nice Entertainment Group for €84.4 million

MTG Studios, the content arm of broadcast group MTG, has acquired Nice Entertainment for €84.4 million.

Under the leadership of Patrick Svensk, MTG Studios has been actively buying production and distribution companies including DRG and Novemberfilm, which sit alongside its other production banners Strix and Paprika.
It’s understood the likes of Core Media in the US, France’s Lagadère and Sony Pictures Television were all interested in acquiring Nice but lost out. ITV was also touted as a buyer but this was played down by its management.

The Nice group comprises several Nordic production companies including Monster, One Big Happy Family, Playroom, and Rakett in Norway; Titan, Baluba and Nice Drama in Sweden; Moskito, Production House, and Grillifilms in Finland; and Gong in Denmark.

Formats from the group include The Grill Masters and Dinner Disasters.

“Nice is a fantastic company and a perfect strategic fit with MTG Studios, with well-diversified TV-production and relationships with all of the major Scandinavian broadcasters, as well as a unique approach to integrating TV and event production,” said Patrick Svensk, CEO and Chairman MTG Studios.

The MTG boss added that Nice will continue to operate as a group of independent companies focused on the Nordic region. New formats from the group will go through MTG Studios sales division, DRG, which recently absorbed Strix International.

“It will be business as usual for Nice, and they will continue as an independent group of production companies serving all clients in the Nordic region” Svensk said.

“The next chapter in Nice’s history begins today. We have been building the company backed up by a financial owner, joining an owner from the industry seems like a natural and very motivating next step for all members of the Nice-family,” said Morten Aass, CEO Nice Entertainment Group. “We enjoy the fact that we will be owned by a Nordic based content provider, offering a lot of new opportunities and with great ambitions for our further growth.”