We missed this one last week: UK-based digital distribution company Arts Alliance Media has made a U.S. acquisition: it has bought New York-based Hart Sharp Video, whose biggest hit of late was Morgan Spurlock’s “Super Size Me”. Hart Sharp will be renamed Arts Alliance America and the company’s existing president, Joe Amodei, will retain the same position, reporting to London-based AAM CEO Howard Kiedaisch, reports C21. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed but it’s understood that the involvement of Norwegian shipping magnate Thomas Hoegh in both ventures played a part. Hoegh founded AAM and was also a major investor in Hart Sharp.
AAM is the biggest single shareholder in UK online movie rental service LoveFilm,and has agreement with Fox, Warner Bros, Universal and Sony. It also powers movie service for AOL UK, Tiscali and FremantleMedia, and also developing a new standalone download service called Vizumi. At Hart Sharp, though, DVD distribution would remain the core for now. More details in release.
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