A new all-rights buyer from Germany, E-M-S New Media, has emerged at MIFED and is set to get more aggressive once it goes public on the Neuer Markt later this month.

With an initial public offering set for Nov 21, E-M-S (short for European Multimedia Services) has snapped up all rights in Germany to two pictures from Interlight Pictures - Timepiece to star Mike Myers and Helen Hunt and White Jazz with John Cusack and Nick Nolte - a single picture from Highland Crest, The Assassination with James Coburn and Ed Harris, and two from Overseas FilmGroup: Titus with Anthony Hopkins and serial killer biopic Ed Gein.

E-M-S was founded in 1997 by Werner Wirsing, chief of digital mastering studio Hecker Digital and a pioneer in the German DVD market. Since then, he has built a library of 1,000 titles including 400 special interest titles - but has now begun to buy all rights and plans to sell on non-home video rights to partners. He has a close relationship with Advanced Medien which could handle theatrical distribution on his acquisitions. E-M-S has bought DVD rights on Advanced movies such as Saving Grace and German Best Foreign Language Film Oscar contender No Place To Go.

The ebullient Wirsing promises that, while he will be looking to "buy big movies" if the flotation is successful, he plans to pursue a more sensible approach than some of his competitors. "We are more than just a movie company," he explained. "We have put games and music on DVDs as well as movies. Our world is a disc, our business is entertainment."