ITV buys stake in Teen Wolf indie DiGa Vision

The deal marks ITV’s fourth US indie deal in the last 18 months following the purchases of Duck Dynasty producer Gurney Productions, Cake Boss indie High Noon Entertainment and Thinkfactory Media, producer of Hatfields and McCoys.

ITV has bought a 51% stake in the business and has taken an option to buy the remainder of the company over the next three to six years.

Although ITV has not disclosed how much it paid for DiGa Vision, it said that the multiple paid is similar to the range paid on previous acquisitions, thought to be around eight times earnings.

DiGa was set up in 2011 by former MTV executives Tony DiSanto, who was president of programming at the cable network, and its head of series development Liz Gateley, along with backing from Ben Silverman’s Electus.

During their stint at the youth-skewing broadcaster, DiSanto and Gateley were responsible for creating and developing series including Jersey Shore, The Hills and Teen Mom.

Since establishing DiGa they have produced series including Ke$sha: My Crazy Beautiful Life for MTV, unscripted YouTube series K-Town and Lifetime’s forthcoming auction format Celebrity Home Raiders - as well as Teen Wolf, which is moving into its fourth series.

Paul Buccieri, president and chief executive of ITV Studios US Group, said: “Tony and Liz have an excellent track record in creating original, engaging and compelling reality and scripted programming with an impressive content pipeline which feeds into numerous networks. They’re a true creative force and will be a great addition to the ITV Studios US Group of companies.”