German production and distribution company Splendid Medien has acquired a 60 percent stake in Joker TV, a Cologne-based production house specializing in reality TV formats.
The deal, announced Friday, gives Splendid the option to take full control of Joker TV at a later date.
Joker is one of Germany’s leading producers of scripted reality shows and has scored ratings hits with low brow fare such as The Geissens, The Wollnys and Sarah and Pietro.
According to figures released by Splendid, Joker booked revenues of $12.3 million (€11.3 million) in 2014 and had a pre-tax profit of $1.2 million (€1.1 million).
Joker TV founder Patrick Ach will continue to run the company alongside Splendid exec Martin von Winterfeld.
