Content acquires 50% stake in Finnish prodco

Transatlantic group Content Media has acquired a 50% stake in Aito Media, the Finnish company behind major local series The Night Patrol and Different Moms.

Aito joins companies including Jigsaw Productions, Small World IFT and Collins Avenue and is the latest Content has invested in as part of strategy to expand internationally through production partnerships.

The deal, financial terms of which were not announced, will see Aito working with Content and formats specialist Small World to share formats and ideas across territories. Content’s sales team will work with Aito to exclusively distribute the latter’s shows and formats internationally.

Small World, which is building a global formats portfolio with Content, already has an international distribution agreement for Aito reality format The Night Patrol (pictured). The fact ent show was was recently recommissioned by SBS Discovery in Norway.

Decade-old Aito is also behind Different Moms, Future Police Officers and 30 Days on the Arctic Ocean, and currently has around 150 hours of content on air in Finland.

“We’re continuing to see an increase in new commissions, orders for returning shows and remakes across all the major Finnish networks, and now into the wider Scandinavian region, as displayed by the recent re-commission from SBS Discovery Norway for our highly rated The Night Patrol,” said Aito co-founders Ilkka Hynninen and Eero Hietala in a statement.

“Our new partnership with Content Media has come at the perfect time for us to ensure our production and format development reaches its full global potential.”

John Schmidt, CEO, Content Media, added: “We see tremendous potential for Aito in growing their business not only in Finland but across Scandinavia. Our television production business, anchored by Collins Avenue in Los Angeles and Jigsaw Productions in New York, has been growing very nicely, and we welcome Aito to this group.

“Ilkka and Eero have already achieved impressive results and we’re looking forward to showcasing their talents to an even wider audience as they reach the next level of success.”