Irish post-production and investment company Playhouse Studios has acquired the UK's Lipsync from administration.
Greystones-based Playhouse paid an undisclosed amount to accountancy firm Oury Clark for Lipsync's assets, and the company has installed Mark Foligno as CEO of Lipsync.
Playhouse CEO Lorcan Kavanagh and managing director Peggy Cafferty have also been appointed as chief revenue officer and chief operating officer.
Lipsync entered administration late last month after 39 years in the business, putting up to 70 jobs at risk.
“In an industry where jobs are disappearing every week, we are glad that we were able to keep the majority of people in jobs at Lipsync,” Playhouse managing director Peggy Cafferty told Deadline.
She added that Playhouse had still been forced to “make some tough choices.”
Focus Capital Partners acted as corporate finance advisor to Playhouse throughout the process and helped to raise new capital for the group as it scales operations in the UK and Europe. Wallace Corporate Counsel acted as legal advisors.
The company said that the Lipsync acquisition would be a “cornerstone in the Playhouse Group’s strategy to build Europe’s most advanced and agile production, post-production and content financing group."
The most recent accounts for the year to July 2023 show the Lipsync grew revenues by 44% to £36m and pre-tax profits 77% to £1.4m.
The firm has backed projects such as We Need To Talk About Kevin, Great Expectations, Nowhere Boy, and Made In Dagenham, and has helped to deliver more than 200 films and TV series since its inception in 1986.
Its recent credits include Oscar-winning The Brutalist, Fight or Flight, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, One Life and Living. Lipsync was formerly led by managing director Peter Hampden and late financial director Norman Merry.
The latest accounts for Play House Studios Ltd show capital and reserves of €433,200 at the end of 2022 after making a profit of €137,200 that year, up from a €4,200 loss in 2021.
(Pic: Getty Images)
