Two Rivers Media boss Alan Clements takes majority share following investor exit

Escape To The Chateau

Alan Clements, founder & MD of Scottish indie Two Rivers Media, has become majority shareholder of the company following the exit of investment bank Noble Grossart.

Noble Grossart takes investments in mainly unlisted companies where it can act as a supportive and longer-term strategic participant. It has been with Two Rivers since its inception. The Glasgow-based indie, which launched in 2019, will continue to be backed by the Channel 4 Growth Fund whose ownership is unaffected by this move.

“I wish to thank Noble Grossart for the role their investment has played in the growth of Two Rivers and the support and guidance they have given over the last three years,” said Clements.

Alan Clements

“Two Rivers Media is in a fantastic position in the marketplace with a list of customers and projects that we could have only dreamed of when we launched in 2019.  I’m extremely excited about what the future holds for the company.”

Two Rivers has been busy scooping up book rights in recent months, including Chums, the new novel by Simon Kuper and the upcoming Philip Miller thriller The Goldenacre, following the acquisition of the film and TV rights to Tanya Byrne’s Afterlove, in 2021.

The firm is behind existing titles including Monster: The Mystery of Loch Ness for Paramount+; Susan Hill’s A Ghost Story for Channel 5; Killing Escobar for BBC Scotland and BBC Two and Cassius X, for Smithsonian Channel.

In 2020, Two Rivers secured a major two-year programming deal from Channel 4 to supply a raft of programming under the Chateau brand, including Escape To The Chateau, and Escape To The Chateau: Make Do And Mend.

Last year, it struck a deal with former A+E Networks International exec Hayley Babcock and her new company, Hayley Babcock Media Consulting, as part of efforts to ramp up its push into the US market.

Mick McAvoy, who exited STV Productions alongside Clements in 2019 to form Two Rivers, recently announced his departure as head of factual at the company to move on “to another adventure”.