Bodle buys back Power

Justin Bodle has bought Power, handing his new company the production and distribution business he created in 1995, and ran until six years ago.

Bodle will be chairman of the new look Power Entertainment Media, having bought it from its previous owners, Sabido, which has offloaded the company as part of a wider programme of disposals, as first reported by TBI.

The deal was executed through Purecom Entertainment International, the media investment vehicle Bodle created earlier this year. Financial details were not disclosed, but the cash deal is thought to have handed Bodle the company, debt-free, for less than £1 million (US$1.3 million).

Speaking to TBI this morning Bodle said him and the new-look Power will go beyond drama and will sit alongside The Hot House, a new multi-genre incubator that Bodle formed earlier this year with former ITV Studios exec Remy Blumenfeld.

It has since backed a new drama indie from Steven D. Wright, Kerfuffle TV, and Seriously TV, an indie launched in partnership with Malcolm Clark.

The new Power will have what was the RHI catalogue, as well as various other shows it invested in, in recent years, although the full line-up is not yet clear as the owners work through the rights.

Its notable titles over the years have included Day of the Triffids, Colditz, Henry VIII and The Flood.

Bodle said he had been seeking to regain control of Power for about a year. The company will continue to be based in its central London offices.

“I believe in Power, which had lost its way a bit,” Bodle said. “Distribution and production is a machine that needs feeding, it can’t just look after itself.” Accordingly, Bodle plans to add to the catalogue with acquisitions in coming weeks, and there will also be other M&A, possibly including a deal for a production company.

He added that a modern production and distribution business should be across digital platforms and opportunities, direct-to-consumer possibilities, and connecting brands directly with content (Bodle is the former chief exec of Carat Entertainment), all of which will help shape the new-look business.

“I look forward to announcing the new strategy and new plans that will integrate what we’ve been doing over the past 18 months as we rebuild Power into a new 21st century distribution business for the global marketplace,” he said.

“Power will be working across all genres and re-establishing its strong ties with the advertising industry as we create new strategies for the digital world.”

MIPCOM will likely come to early for a full relaunch of the new Power, but Bodle and his team will be on the ground in Cannes.