Sound + Vision. LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, of the UK, has taken a minority stake in the natural history film maker Plimsoll Productions, valuing the company at £80m. Plimsoll has produced over 50 series, 14 live shows and seven films since it was founded in 2013. The company received an Emmy nomination for Hostile Planet which featured adventurer Bear Grylls on the National Geographic channel. Other series include Life at the Extreme and Rescue Dog to Super Dog.
The Bristol, UK-based Plimsoll distributes to more than 50 countries worldwide through Magnify Media, a company in which it invested three years ago. Its content is broadcast in more than 70 countries. Last year, the company made operating profit of £2.3m from £19.5m revenue – almost 50% ahead of the previous year. In the current year ending this month, it is believed that Plimsoll will have revenue of more than £30m. Its broadcast customers include the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, Blue Ant Media and National Geographic.
Natural history programming exports relatively well because the voice-over format is easier to dub into different languages for local markets.
