Change of ownership positive: NHNZ
ANY concerns Dunedin production house NHNZ may be closed following its acquisition by international media company Blue Ant Media have been quashed.
NHNZ managing director Kyle Murdoch said the company was excited about its next chapter with the new owner, and believed it would pave the way for expansion of the Dunedin business.
‘‘Dunedin is the key to NHNZ’s success. There are no plans to close the Dunedin site.
‘‘I think being part of a larger media group is going to give us more opportunities, and cer tainly there will be room for us to expand based on those opportunities.
‘‘There’s definitely room for growth and more jobs in Dunedin,’’ he said.
RACAT Group, the parent company of NHNZ, announced yesterday its media holdings had been bought by Blue Ant Media.
Included in the purchase are production houses NHNZ, Beach House Pictures, Northern Pictures, international children’s nature broadcaster ZooMoo Networks, and mobile game developer and publisher Runaway Play.
Blue Ant Media is a privately held, international content producer, distributor and channel operator, with production houses around the world creating content for multiple genres.
It offers a catalogue of more than 2300 hours of content, including the largest 4K natural history offering on the market.
Its international channel business offers a portfolio of media brands such as Smithsonian Channel Canada, BBC Earth (Canada), Love Nature (International) and HGTV (New Zealand).
Mr Murdoch said Blue Ant Media and NHNZ had some ‘‘very obvious’’ synergies.
‘‘We’re thrilled to be a part of such an ambitious group.
‘‘While it is business as usual for the time being, I’m looking forward to seizing new opportunities for NHNZ’s continued growth and evolution that will come with being part of Blue Ant.’’
Mr Murdoch paid tribute to NHNZ’s former owner, RACAT chief executive officer David Haslingden.
‘‘Under David’s ownership, NHNZ has been transformed in size, shape and form, so we want to thank him for backing NHNZ and we’re delighted he’s going to continue to be involved in our future as an executive director of our new parent company.’’
Mr Murdoch said this would be the third change of ownership in NHNZ’s 40year history.
It was established as TV One’s Natural History Unit in 1977, and was then sold to Fox Television Studios in 1997.
Mr Haslingden, former president and chief operating officer of Fox Networks Group, bought the company in 2012 and formed RACAT Group.
Under the deal, Mr Haslingden became a significant shareholder and member of Blue Ant Media’s board of directors.
NHNZ already has a close working relationship with Blue Ant Media, and over the past two years it has been coproducing a series of New Zealandbased ultrahigh definition natural history specials called Wildest New Zealand, which will be delivered in July.
john.lewis@odt.co.nz