Sphere Media To Buy ‘Leaving Neverland’ Seller Abacus Media Rights For $18.6M

Canada’s Sphere Media has acquired Abacus Media Rights, the UK-based distributor that sells Leaving Neverland and Scrublands.

Sphere is partnering with broadcaster Bell Media on the deal with current owner Amcomri Entertainment. Bell owns a stake in Sort Of producer Sphere following an investment last year.

The Abacus deal will costs a total of C$24.6M ($18.6M), comprising C$18.3M in cash and the rest in the assumption of loans. The deal is subject to approval.

Once it closes, Abacus operate under the name Sphere Abacus Media Rights. Abacus’ sales and acquisitions team will remain based in the UK and continue to report to founder and Managing Director Jonathan Ford, who will in turn join the Sphere Media executive team and report to Sphere Media CEO Bruno Dubé.

Abacus launched in March 2020 with backing from Amcomri soon after Kew Media Group had collapsed under the weight of debts that followed several company acquisitions. Kew Media Distribution, the sales unit Ford led, was profitable and found its cash being used to service other costs elsewhere in the group.

Ford and his team brought several Kew partners over to Abacus, with the likes of Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed and Nick Broomfield. The company has since grown into a major UK distributor, doing multi-millions of dollars of turnover each year since launch, striking deals with the likes of Prime Video, BritBox and Netflix.

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