Sports media company TWI has announced that it will acquire London-based DarlowSmithson Productions, best known in the film world for its first feature, Touching The Void.

TWI will finance the acquisition with capital from its parent company,US-based IMG.

The move will let TWI expand into factual non-sports programming. DarlowSmithson currently delivers more than 100 hours of documentaries, factualseries, and docu-dramas annually, with an yearly turnover of $35.1m (£20m).

Darlow Smithson will continue to operate independently andno redundancies are expected at this stage for its 100 staffers.

"This is an exciting opportunity for us at the righttime in the growth of our company," said John Smithson, DarlowSmithson's executive chairman and creative director. "The DarlowSmithson name remains - same people, same creativity, sameeditorial standards. But going forward it will bring much more. TWI and IMG Media will provide us with an extensive international structure to helpus grow DSP, including areas like new media where it has significantexperience, strengthening our relationships with clients and enhancing ourcreative development."

Darlow Smithson has ties to broadcasters including Channel4, BBC, ITV,Five, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, PBS, and The HistoryChannel. Over 75% of its sales come from outside the UK.

A spokesman said the company would continue todevelop other feature films, although projects in the works haven't been announced yet.