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Liberty Global Sells Polish Operations to Play in $1.8 Billion Deal – Global Bulletin

SALE

John Malone’s multinational telco Liberty Global — owners of “Fleabag” and “1917” producer All3Media and joint owners with Telefonica of the merged Virgin Media and O2 – has reached an agreement sell its Polish operations to the iliad group’s Polish mobile subsidiary Play.

Liberty Global has agreed to sell UPC Poland for a total enterprise value of PLN 7.0 billion ($1.8 billion). The sale price represents a multiple of approximately 9 times UPC Poland’s estimated 2021 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, and nearly 20 times its estimated 2021 operating free cash flow. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2022 and generate approximately $600 million of net cash proceeds to Liberty Global after debt repayment.

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Liberty’s networks in Poland serve 1.5 million customers who subscribe to 1.3 million broadband, 1.4 million video, and over 600,000 telephony services.

“Germinal” - Credit: Banijay Rights
“Germinal” - Credit: Banijay Rights

Banijay Rights

ACQUISITION

French-Canadian network Radio-Canada has acquired “Germinal,” the six-part drama based on Émile Zola’s classic 19th century novel, which won the audience award at Series Mania recently. The agreement with Radio-Canada was negotiated by Jane Rimer, SVP Canada, Banijay Rights.

Coproduced by Banijay Studios France and Pictanovo with the support of La Région Hauts-de-France for France Télévisions, in collaboration with Rai Fiction and Salto, the deal marks the first international sale for the series.

“Germinal” is the story of a miners’ strike during the Second Empire in a community in northern France.

The series was also made with the support of Procirep-Société des Producteurs and Angoa, with the participation of the CNC.

APPOINTMENT

Magnify Media, part of Plimsoll Productions, has appointed Anthony Appell as head of sales and co-productions.
Most recently, Appell served as head of pre-sales and co-productions consultant for Viacom International/VIS U.K. Previously he was director of Twofour Rights and was VP sales for Zodiak Rights. Appell will work closely with Andrea Jackson, CEO of Magnify Media.

THE GREEN KNIGHT, Dev Patel as Gawain, 2021. ph: Eric Zachanowich / © A24 / courtesy Everett Collection - Credit: Courtesy of A24/Everett Collection
THE GREEN KNIGHT, Dev Patel as Gawain, 2021. ph: Eric Zachanowich / © A24 / courtesy Everett Collection - Credit: Courtesy of A24/Everett Collection

Courtesy of A24/Everett Collection

STREAMING

David Lowery’s “The Green Knight” will forgo Spanish theaters and be made available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in the country on Oct. 28, 11 days after its screening as the Sitges Film Festival’s closing film on Oct. 17. “The Green Knight” is Lowery’s long-anticipated fantasy adaptation of Arthurian legend which stars Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire”), Alicia Vikander (“Ex Machina”) and Joel Edgerton (“The Underground Railroad”). It’s produced by A24, Sailor Bear and BRON Studios. – Jamie Lang

“The Goes Wrong Show” - Credit: BBC / Big Talk Productions / Gary Moyes
“The Goes Wrong Show” - Credit: BBC / Big Talk Productions / Gary Moyes

BBC / Big Talk Productions / Gary Moyes

Meanwhile, season 2 of the hit BBC Comedy series, “The Goes Wrong Show” will be available to viewers in the U.S., Canada and Australia on BroadwayHD, the streaming service for live theater. Aficionados of the series will be able to watch episodes weekly, beginning Sept. 28, shortly after they debut in the U.K. on BBC One. Season 2 will immerse the members of the Cornley Drama Society in another ambitious project, where sets will collapse, special effects will fail and the studio audience will be threatened, but the show must go on.

BroadwayHD will be the first platform to make the new season available in these territories. “The Goes Wrong Show” is produced by Big Talk Productions and Mischief Screen. It is written by and stars the original founders of the Mischief Theatre Company – Henry Lewis, Henry Shields and Jonathan Sayer, along with Bryony Corrigan, Nancy Zamit, Charlie Russell, Greg Tannahill, Dave Hearn and Chris Leask. The series is based on the BBC’s “The Play That Goes Wrong” Christmas specials and the popular Broadway and West End production that inspired it.

BroadwayHD also features a library of Mischief Theatre Company productions that include “Peter Pan Goes Wrong,” “Christmas Carol Goes Wrong” and the first season of “The Goes Wrong Show.”

FESTIVAL

Spanish scripted TV festival Serielizados Fest has announced the line-up of invited guests for this year’s 8th edition, headlined by Werner Herzog, Paul Abbott (“Shameless”) and Daphna Levin (“Euphoria”). In addition to the presentations from its high-profile guests, Serializados Fest 2021 will preview several upcoming series from Spain’s most important platforms including HBO Max’s “Todo lo otro,” Amazon Prime Video’s horror anthology series “Historias para no dormir,” Filmin’s “Portuondo” and “Monsterland” from AXN. This year’s festival runs Oct. 18-30 and will host events in both Barcelona and Madrid including masterclasses, roundtables, premieres and the third edition of the Pitching Forum Series, organized by the screenwriters’ association of Catalunya. – Jamie Lang

SPIN-OFF

MTV International has revealed three new spin-off specials from the Teen Mom franchise, “Teen Mom U.K.: My Mum and Me,” “Teen Mom U.K.: Mums Move In,” and “Teen Mom U.K.: My Birth Story.” The specials begin airing on Sept. 29t on MTV channels around the world and show “Teen Mom U.K.” stars reflecting on the moments that changed their lives forever and their relationships along the way.

The specials are produced by True North for MTV U.K. and commissioned by Craig Orr and executive producer Jaime Brannan.

<img class="size-full wp-image-1235071197" src="https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Teen-Mom.jpg&quot; alt=" - Credit: MTV International" width="1000" height="563" srcset="https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Teen-Mom.jpg 1000w, https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Teen-Mom.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Teen-Mom.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Teen-Mom.jpg?resize=125,70 125w, https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Teen-Mom.jpg?resize=681,383 681w, https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Teen-Mom.jpg?resize=450,253 450w, https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Teen-Mom.jpg?resize=250,140 250w" sizes="(min-width: 87.5rem) 1000px, (min-width: 78.75rem) 681px, (min-width: 48rem) 450px, (max-width: 48rem) 250px" />MTV International

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