FremantleMedia Ups Investment In Top European Digital Network Divimove

FremantleMedia, the London-headquartered production company behind The Young Pope, The X Factor, and Family Feud, has upped its investment in European multi-platform network Divimove, following its acquisition of the company in January 2015.

As part of the deal, Divimove’s co-founders, Brian Ruhe, Philipp Bernecker, and Sebastiaan van Dam, will remain in charge for at least the next two years. While the terms of the investment were not disclosed, Fremantle’s stake in Divimove will remain at 75%

“The investment enables us to pursue our strong growth strategy by expanding our team and opening further local Divimove offices across Europe,” Ruhe, who serves as Divimove’s CEO, said in a statement.

The company also plans to develop more sophisticated media-buying capabilities and performance tools for brands, as well as launch live events and book publishing divisions. And Divimove will now work more closely on creative and commercial opportunities with the RTL Digital Media Hub — the entity comprising all of the digital businesses of Fremantle’s parent company, RTL Group, which also owns StyleHaul, BroadBandTV, and programmatic ad platform SpotX

Divimove was founded in 2012 and today represents some of Europe’s most popular influencers, including Dutch vlogger Enzo Knol, German food creator Sallys Welt, beauty creator NikkieTutorials, and Italian vlogger Leonardo Dicarlie. The company represents the largest influencer network in Europe, across Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, and France. Its portfolio comprises 1,200 partners who boast 350 million fans on social media and generate 1.5 billion views per month.

“In less than five years, Divimove went from a startup digital business to become one of the leading European media companies in online video,” FremantleMedia’s CEO of digital and branded entertainment, Keith Hindle, said of the deal.

Fremantle boasts a massive digital presence in its own right, including for its television brands as well as original digital properties like The Football Republic and Munchies. It clocked 19 billion video views in 2016, and counts 228 million fans across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.