Question Time studio in Big Fat Gypsy deal
THE TV production company behind the BBC’s political debate show Question Time has bought the studio that makes Channel 4’s Big Fat Gypsy Weddings reality programme.
Tinopolis, which is owned by London private equity firm Vitruvian Partners, announced the acquisition of Firecracker Films yesterday. The price of the deal was not disclosed, but industry insiders put the figure at around £30m.
The deal will give Tinopolis a greater presence in the US. “In Firecracker we have acquired a company that is operating at the cutting edge of television on both sides of the Atlantic,” the company’s executive chairman Ron Jones said.
Tinopolis, which also produces Traffic Cops and Hell’s Kitchen, delisted from London’s Alternative Investment Market in 2008, and has grown revenues from £50m to £130m since 2006.