Sony Corp. will buy CSC Media Group to get more involved in high-margin television programming.
The deal was announced Thursday by Sony Pictures Television, the Japanese company's TV programming and network unit, according to KFGO. The unit said it will buy CSC for 107 million pounds ($180 million).
The deal will give Sony access to CSC's 16 channels that are available on cable and satellite, which brings its total channels in the U.K. to 25.
Sony's acquisition expands its offering into the music and children genres with the additional branding, which includes True Entertainment, Chart Show TV and Pop. The deal also increases Sony's channels on Freeview from two to four, Variety reported.
"The acquisition of CSC further demonstrates our commitment to the U.K. market and our intent to continue to grow our tremendously successful global portfolio of networks," said Andy Kaplan, president of worldwide networks for Sony Pictures Television (SPT).
"These new channels perfectly complete our current offerings, allowing us to provide viewers with a variety of entertainment choices and advertisers with greater reach and cross-channel opportunities."
Kazuo Hirai, chief executive of Sony, pledged to make the company's entertainment content business in the U.S. stronger, KFGO reported.
As part of a deal made with majority shareholder Veronis Suhler Stevenson, SPT will purchase 100 percent of CSC's shares.
Since entering the U.K. market in 2011, SPT has produced nine channels' feeds across several platforms. Sony Entertainment, Sony Movie Channel, Movie Mix and Movies 4 Men are among the company's channel brands.
CSC was founded in 2007 and is one of the biggest independent cable/satellite TV channel groups in the U.K. CSC has also made its channels available in Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa.
"CSC has grown from a small bouquet channel operator to become one of the leading multi-channel ad-supported TV networks in the U.K.," said Remy Minute, CEO of CSC Media Group. "This combination with SPT allows us to accelerate our growth trajectory, both internationally and domestically."
