Exclusive: Keshet International looking to sell UK prodco group Greenbird

Suspicion

Keshet International (KI) is looking to sell its UK-based production business Greenbird, TBI understands.

KI acquired its majority stake in Greenbird – founded by Jamie Munro and Stuart Mullin a decade ago – in 2018, buying out the stake previously held by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide).

That deal handed the Israeli company distribution rights to shows from the dozen production companies that Greenbird supported, including Big Light Productions, Flicker Pictures, Kalel Productions and Top Hat Productions.

The Israeli media group then restructured its UK operations last year by splitting the scripted and unscripted operations of Keshet Productions in two.

Unscripted assets were re-launched as a separate company known as Interstellar, which falls under the umbrella of  Greenbird.

Interstellar is led by MD David Williams, with Jamie Ormerod promoted to creative director and Marisa Guagenti head of production. The trio were behind Keshet Productions’ shows including ITV2’s Singletown, as well as Speed Freaks for ITV4 and Craft Party for UK kids channel CBBC.

Keshet Productions, meanwhile, retained its name but now only focuses on scripted for the UK and international markets, with Howard Burch (The A Word) overseeing operations. The company is behind shows including Apple TV’s Suspicion – a remake of Keshet  format False Flag – and also falls under the Greenbird umbrella.

Greenbird continues to support prodcos by allowing creatives to focus on their shows, while it manages the commercial side. Current partners include Crackit Productions, Hello Halo, Little Dooley, Rockerdale Studios, Rumpus Media and Tuesday’s Child, among numerous others.

The news comes amid a hot M&A market for production firms, which today saw Banijay UK acquire Mam Tor Productions, the Tally Garner-founded production company behind Amazon Prime Video and BBC One drama Chloe.

KI declined to comment.