Zinc Media buys Tern TV for up to £5.45m

Zinc Media has agreed to buy rival TV production company Tern Television Productions for up to £5.45m to expand its range of factual programmes and meet demand for production to take place outside London.

London-based Zinc will pay an initial £2m for Tern, based in Aberdeen, plus £1.1m for surplus cash and an "earnout" payment of up to £2.35m for Tern's management.

Zinc is raising £3.5m before expenses in an oversubscribed share placing to pay for the deal.

Zinc said buying Tern would bring it expertise in adventure, gardening and religious programming – areas it lacks now. Major UK TV companies increasingly want programmes made outside London and Tern, with operations in Scotland and Northern Ireland, fits the bill, Zinc added.

The deal is also part of Zinc's strategy to combine with other companies to create a business with scale to produce higher quality programmes demanded by viewers.

It bought Reef Television, which makes Paul Hollywood's City Bakes and Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages, in 2015.

Peter Bertram, Zinc's chairman, said: "We believe this acquisition will place us in a strong position to further expand and grow in an industry which is experiencing ever-increasing demand for original content, due to the rapid growth of connected devices and new TV platforms."

Zinc's programmes include investigative films for Channel 4's Dispatches and the BBC's Panorama. Tern's work includes Flights From Hell and Best Laid Plans, a home renovation show running on Channel 4.