Thomson has bought a majority stake of playout specialist Corinthian Television Facilities for an undisclosed figure.
Thomson has bought a majority stake of playout specialist Corinthian Television Facilities for an undisclosed figure.

Corinthian will trade within Thomson-owned Technicolor in the newly formed Technicolor Network Services division. There are no plans to change the playout facility's name, but formal integration will begin next week.

The French technology group, Thomson, has made the deal amid heightened speculation surrounding the sale of visual effects specialist The Moving Picture Company. It is expected that The Moving Picture Company will be sold to Thomson for more than £40m by the end of this week. This deal was still unconfirmed as Broadcast went to press.

Thomson has already stated that it is targeting opportunities in key segments of the Broadcast management and services market.

Corinthian managing director Maurizio Cimelli said: "This is a powerful acquisition for Techni-color as it completes its ability to offer the full chain of service from production through post to playout in the UK."

Corinthian's west London site provides playout for a major multinational broadcaster. Thomson recently entered the playout arena through its Technicolor Creative Services division, which manages the Disney Channel Japan's playout from the Tokyo Broadcast Playout Centre.

Technicolor Entertainment Services president David Elliott said: "It's a lot easier to buy when you have an established customer base in the market."

Technicolor has also worked on projects such as Doc Martin for Buffalo Pictures and ITV1.

Corinthian has been looking at a number of UK business opportunities and the backing of Technicolor puts it in a stronger position to compete with companies such as Ascent as it looks to advance into Europe.

The acquisition comes at a time of impending change within the playout market with several opportunities on the horizon.

Flextech's current contract with the Ascent Media Network Services Europe (AMNSE) is due to expire within a couple of years and possible changes at Granada and BBC Broadcast could open the market further.

Cimelli, who recently joined Corinthian from AMNSE where he was managing director of the London Playout Centre for three years, said the management structure was being left in place and changes would only be made to cope with "growth and expansion".

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