ProSiebenSat.1 acquires Swedish producer

ProSiebenSat.1’s Scandinavian production division has acquired Swedish producer Hard Hat.

Snowman Productions, which was set up by Red Arrow Entertainment last year, has acquired a majority interest in the production company and will see it move into ad-funded programming and digital production in the region.

This is the latest acquisition for ProSiebenSat.1’s Red Arrow, which acquired British drama and factual indie The Mob Company in March and a stake in US producer Fuse Entertainment, which produces The Killing and Burn Notice, in September.

Red Arrow launched Snowman Productions in Sweden in October 2010 before rolling it out to Denmark earlier this year. It is also expected to move into Norway over the coming months.

Hard Hat, which is based in Stockholm, was founded by former Metronome execs Mats Dicklén and Calle Schulman. It has produced digital series and ad-funded programming for broadcasters SVT and Kanal 5 as well as brands including Procter & Gamble.

Pontus Gårdinger, CEO of Snowman Productions, said: “With the acquisition of Hard Hat, we take an important step towards establishing ourselves as market leaders in production and development for other platforms such as web TV, alongside traditional TV. I couldn´t wish for a better partner for Snowman.”