Zodiak Continues To Expand

Patrick Svensk, President and CEO of international content and distribution group Zodiak Television has announced further details of the company’s continued expansion. This follows the recent acquisition of Benelux production company Kanakna and London based production company Bullseye TV and the recently announced relocation of distribution unit Zodiak Television World from Copenhagen to London.
As a result of this expansion and the strategic developments in the Group, organisational changes can be announced in all four regions of Zodiak Television – ‘Continental Europe’, ‘West’, ‘East’ and ‘Nordic’.
The acquisition of the Benelux production company Kanakna is now finalised adding ‘Continental Europe’ as a fourth region to Zodiak Television’s growing portfolio. Ludo Poppe, founder and previously CEO of Kanakna, will now become Chairman of Kanakna Benelux as well as Vice President with responsibility for ‘Continental Europe’, which currently includes the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland. Stef Soeteway and Gert Van Kerckhove, co-founders of the company, take on the positions of Managing Director of Kanakna Belgium and Managing Director of Kanakna Netherlands respectively.
The acquisition of London based production and distribution company Bullseye TV is followed by a number of strategic and organisational changes in the ‘West’ region of Zodiak Television. The Group’s distribution unit, Zodiak Television World, will, as previously announced, move from Copenhagen to London to be merged with Bullseye’s distribution operations, continuing to operate under the name Zodiak Television World.
The founder and owner of Bullseye TV, Jorg Roth, will continue as Managing Director of Bullseye Productions and will as of January 1, 2008 also be the Managing Director of Zodiak Television World. A new Head of Formats & Acquisitions has also been recruited, Sarah Coursey, who was previously Head of Sales at the London based distribution company Distraction. This development ensures that both the management and product portfolio of Zodiak Television World are strengthened, creating a substantial full service distribution company.
Paul Sowerbutts, Managing Director of Zodiak’s British production company Diverse Production and Vice President West will also become Vice President Distribution during these organisational changes.
Zodiak Television’s ‘East’ region, which currently consists of Russia and Ukraine, continues to experience strong growth, having become the largest Zodiak region in terms of sales in just one year. New for this region is that Patrick Nebout, who will continue as Vice President East with responsibility for, among other things, further expansion in the region, hands over the position of Managing Director of Zodiak Vostok to Gena Kaganovitj, who over the last couple of years has participated in building up Zodiak Television’s activity in the region and now takes over the operational responsibility.
Zodiak’s original region, ‘Nordic’, announces that Åse Bendiksen, previously producer at the group’s Norwegian production company MTV Mastiff, becomes Head of Sales and Development in said company.
Svensk commented: "Zodiak Television has experienced strong growth recently with several major acquisitions and establishing a cohesive and efficient organisational structure is a vital element in ensuring that the Group achieves its maximum potential. I am confident that this new structure will enable the Zodiak Television Group to achieve great success as we move into 2008."
(DS)