Following months of speculation, a management team has finally bought out Oasis Television in a multimillion pound deal, writes Sam Espensen.

The four-strong MBO team, consisting of long- term Oasis employees David Smith and Thomas Ioannou, both senior editors, financial director Seng Chang, who has been with the company from the start, and new managing director Gareth Mullaney, signed a deal with previous owners Andrew Coppin and Tony Cloarec last week.

Mullaney said the business was in good financial health in the run-up to the MBO. At 28, he will now be the youngest managing director of a major facilities house in the UK. He said: "We are not paying off any debt that was there prior to us purchasing the company. Andrew and Tony built it up over 15 years and there's a very good, strong foundation that we can build on and go forward."

Oasis's core business has been in drama and graphics but Mullaney has revealed that the company will now be diversifying and making a push into documentary, factual and learning and other long-form work.

"It is said that some of our kit is relatively old, which is true. Post is primarily a service industry, but it is also based in technology. Part of our strategy going forward will be to invest both in the kit we have and in kit that will enable us to diversify. Our focus is to differentiate ourselves from other facilities not just by being a one-stop shop but by offering a unique level of service."

Mullaney, who left his sales role at the company two years ago, has since worked at M2 and Editworks. He commented: "Many of the companies that are of a similar age to Oasis - like Nats or M2 - were started by people around the same age as me without commercial experience," he said. "I may not have that much relevant experience but I have the energy. It's also important to point out that there's three other people involved in this who all have bucketloads of knowledge."

He added: "We're not just buying a building with lots of kit in it, it's the staff. Their loyalty is amazing - I don't think any senior staff have left in the past six years."

The deal is believed to be worth over£2m and was financed by Barclay's media division. Oasis was founded 15 years ago by Coppin and Cloarec who still own the Great Pulteney Street building.

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