Boat Rocker acquires Lip Sync Battle producer

Canada’s Boat Rocker Media has acquired Matador Content, the full-service production company behind Emmy-winning format Lip Sync Battle.

Under the terms of the deal, Matador’s name and leadership will remain, with founder Jay Peterson and Todd Lubin continuing to helm the company.

The prodco’s creative and production teams will have immediate access to Boat Rocker’s global content financing, packaging and distribution business following the cash and stock transaction.

This will be Boat Rocker’s widest expansion into the US market yet. Along with Matador, it will double-down on its investment in development, production and monetisation of premium content.

Matador’s US slate includes Lip Sync Battle for Paramount Network, Boy Band for ABC and What Would Diplo Do? for Vice. The partnership with Boat Rocker will allow the company to ramp up its development slate across all genres and access new sources of financing for pilots and series going forward.

The deal marks Boat Rocker’s third major acquisition in 2018, having previously acquired Fremantle’s Kids & Family division as well as a majority stake in Top Chef producer Insight Productions.

“We are thrilled to partner with Jay, Todd and the entire Matador team, as Boat Rocker continues to expand its capabilities as a global studio with a focus on premium content production and brand building,” said David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, co-executive chairmen of Boat Rocker with John Young, CEO.

“While we have seen meaningful success in the US market with some of our own original series, we believe that, together with Matador, we will make an even bigger mark in very short order.”

Peterson and Lubin said: “We have achieved incredible things over the past five years because of the amazing team of people at Matador. Boat Rocker gives us access to a premier financing and global distribution arm that will accelerate our growth and allow us to do even more with our creative and broadcast partners.

“We have gotten to know the Boat Rocker team well over the past several years and believe this union perfectly suits the vision we have for our company’s future.”