ITV Studios continues its rapid expansion with another acquisition — a controlling stake in reality production company Leftfield Entertainment Group, which is behind such series as Pawn Stars and Real Housewives Of New Jersey. ITV will pay $360 million for 80% of Leftfield, with further payments dependent upon Leftfield’s profits. There are put and call options in place to buy the remaining 20% under which a call option can 
be exercised from three years after the initial deal and a put and call at the end of year five. The deal makes ITV Studios US Group the largest independent unscripted producer in the U.S., the company says.
The acquisition, brokered by About Corporate Finance, also gives ITV Studios a presence on both the East and West Coasts. Leftfield Entertainment, founded by CEO Brent Montgomery, follows ITV’s acquisition in the last 18 months of Gurney Productions, High Noon Entertainment, Thinkfactory Media and DiGa Vision in the US as well as UK producers So Television, The Garden and Big Talk.
Before being acquired, Leftfield Entertainment Group itself was a buyer — the company was created when Leftfield Pictures acquired Sirens Media last March, followed shortly afterwards by the creation of two joint ventures – Loud Television and Outpost Entertainment. Leftfield Pictures sold its first series in 2008 and the group now produces more than 300 hours of unscripted programming a year for over 30 U.S. networks. Its production includes 26 series for 2014 and 31 development projects underway. Pawn Stars is History’s number one show worldwide. It has been ordered for 104 episodes this year to take its total number to almost 400 shows since its 2009 launch. Pawn Stars has traveled internationally to Australia and South Africa, as well as Britain where it was History UK’s highest-ever-rated original premiere. Other successful Leftfield series include Sirens Media’s Real Housewives Of New Jersey, the second highest-rated show in Bravo history, as well as History’s Counting Cars and American Restoration. Brent Montgomery remains CEO of the Leftfield Group. Sirens Media, Loud Television and Outpost Entertainment will all continue to report into him. “Leftfield is a fantastic success story, rapidly growing from a single pilot to become one of the biggest indies in the US,” said Adam Crozier, Chief Executive of ITV plc. “The team has combined creativity with strong production expertise, with over 70% of the business coming from returning series and a pipeline of new ideas coming through in 2014 and 2015 that is really encouraging.”
Reality shows are thé new sitcoms without the hassle of unioned actors.
Hmmm, maybe it’s time I start creating reality shows instead of dramedy :)
The gold rush was 10 years ago. You’re too late.
This guy always has something up his sleeve. Can’t wait to see what’s next
I worked with Brent a decade ago before he owned his own shop. He was a down to earth dude then and still is today. Deserves all the best.
Brent is one of the best guys in the business. So well deserved. It’s about time the industry recognizes these reality companies in a meaningful way. Eat it, scripted folks who have been badmouthing us for years. We have the last laugh….
Can someone explain to me how buyers get these valuations? Seriously, I admit up front I come from a place of ignorance. But does Leftfield own format rights to its shows? Do all those episodes of “Pawn Stores” eventually revert back to them after the History license term is up? Is it generating revenue beyond the license fees via merchandising, music royalties, etc.? I’m just trying to understand the kind of revenue that would need to be generated in the coming decade or so for ITV to say, “YEAH! That was a GREAT deal!”
ITV has an interesting strategy up their sleeve that took me a while to crack. They bought out Gurney, Thinkfactory Media, and High Noon, all of whom had no international format plays. Also, it is pretty well known now that Gurney makes pennies on the dollar on back end merchandising from Duck Dynasty. So that begs the question why did someone as smart as paul buccieri buy ‘trash show factories’ like Gurney, High Noon and Thinkfactory Media? I think he’s stacking Red Neck and trashy argument shows and holding them until he can sell them en masse to the China Market. China still doesn’t know its own television market and is ripe for someone to feed them ‘distinctly American’ content. I think there is going to be a “blue jeans” revolution in China in the next 3 – 5 years and paul and ITV know that. Also, at the same time ITV is amassing a large infrastructure, and engaging in ‘slow bleed’ hostile takeovers of these companies, slowly trimming the fat, getting rid of the “hangers-on” and building a hive of superstar editors, producers, and development teams to do ITV’s bidding. In short, ITV is building a giant factory to create docu-series to sell overseas. That is the only agenda that can explain their acquisitions in America
I worked with Brent Montgomery’s dad. His dad was one of the nicest people you will ever meet. No pretense or artificial. I never met Brent but had numerous email exchanges. Even though he was high on the hog his feet were grounded. ALWAYS answering his emails as if he was a relative working at McDonald’s. I knew he would go far. Congratulations to Brent and his co-workers. You done good!! Walk proud….. all the way to the bank! LOL.