Founders buy back Canada’s Aircraft Pictures from Corus Entertainment

Toronto-based production company Aircraft Pictures has been re-acquired by its co-founders Andrew Rosen and Anthony Leo from embattled Canadian broadcast group Corus Entertainment.

Rosen and Leo on Tuesday said they had entered a binding agreement to repurchase shares from Corus that will restore them as sole shareholders of the company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The repurchase agreement comes two and a half years after Corus acquired a majority stake in Aircraft Pictures.

The production company has worked on titles including UK/Canada coproduction Geek Girl, which became a hit on Netflix earlier this summer. The young-adult series was co-commissioned by Corus-owned streamer StackTV and Netflix. Aircraft also recently produced series including Gangnam Project alongside Pillango Productions, which premiered on CBC and the UK’s CBBC in March.

The company’s development slate spans scripted series across, kids and family, young-adult and one-hour dramas. Its other credits include sci-fi series Circuit Breakers for Apple TV+ and the Hulu series Hollie Hobbie.

For Corus, the sale comes as it continues to experience major financial difficulties. Last month, it confirmed that it would be making a further 300 job cuts as it tries to rebound from the cratering of its share price to around 10 Canadian cents per share.

Most recently, it axed the development team at its kids content studio Nelvana and said it was putting any new development on hold for a year.

“It has been a pleasure working alongside Andrew and Anthony as Corus has long been a champion of Aircraft Pictures’ exceptional storytelling,” said Troy Reeb, co-CEO, Corus Entertainment. “As we continue to refine Corus’ content business, we look forward to seeing their ongoing growth in the global marketplace and wish them well on their next chapter.”

Rosen, who serves as co-president of Aircraft alongside Leo, added: “We’re grateful for Corus’ support as we look ahead to continuing to produce premium content that resonates with audiences around the world.”