The deal sees Endemol establishing an operational base in the Israeli market by acquiring a majority stake in Kuperman, which becomes Endemol Israel.
Through the newly launched operation Endemol plans to invest in creativity and format development across all genres in Israel for both the local and international markets.
Endemol Israel will also produce Endemol’s international formats for the Israeli market. Elad Kuperman, co-owner of Kuperman and one of Israel’s leading TV producers with more than 20 years’ experience of creating, producing and commissioning entertainment shows, will lead Endemol Israel as CEO.
Media investor and entrepreneur Ynon Kreiz, has sold his 50% stake in Kuperman, which he acquired in 2009. He will exit the company as part of the deal.
Just Spee, CEO of Endemol Group comments: “With the launch of Endemol Israel we establish a presence in one of the world’s most creative markets. The high volume of innovative formats coming out of the region continues to grow and our ability to deliver this content to our clients around the world makes this an exciting opportunity. Kuperman is already Israel’s number one TV producer and our partnership underlines Endemol’s commitment to investing in the very best creativity and talent around the world.”
Elad Kuperman comments: “We couldn’t ask for a stronger partner than Endemol. Joining forces will provide us with the expertise, global network and resources to create and exploit world class content whilst also allowing us access to one of the industry’s largest and most valuable portfolios of entertainment IP. Our plan is to pursue significant expansion together.”
Established in 2005, Kuperman is a multi-award winning company with a track record of delivering hit programming across a range of genres including reality, entertainment, drama, comedy, game shows and kids programming.
Among the company’s international successes are Israel’s most popular sitcom Traffic Light, which sold to Fox in the US and CTC in Russia and entertainment show Honey Please, which was picked up by GSN in the USA. Reality series The Successor has been sold to ProSieben in Germany, SBS6 in The Netherlands and TV2 in Hungary as well as generating the US version Phenomenon, which aired on NBC and sold to CTV in Canada and Nine Network in Australia.
Kuperman also produces Endemol’s reality blockbuster Big Brother for Keshet, which first launched in 2008 and went on to become Israel’s most successful TV show. Most recently series 4 averaged a rating of 41.5%, outperforming the slot average by 70%; and season 5 is due to launch soon. In addition Kuperman’s productions of Living in LA LA Land for YES, Play/Record for the Israeli music channel; and numerous other shows in Israel have achieved hit ratings and critical acclaim. To date Kuperman has taken home Israeli Academy Awards for Best Comedy Show (Traffic Light), Best Reality Show (Big Brother) and Best Children’s Show (The Timers), Best Docu Reality Show (Living in LA LA Land) as well as winning an International Emmy for Best Comedy Show (Traffic Light).
