Variety reports:

Vuelta Group's SquareOne Acquires Telepool From Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's Westbrook

German distribution and production company SquareOne Entertainment, part of the emerging European film studio Vuelta Group, has acquired German film and TV production, distribution and licensing company Telepool, which was owned by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's Westbrook.

The news was announced on Wednesday by Jerome Levy, Chairman of Vuelta Group, and Al Munteanu, CEO of SquareOne and Vuelta Group Germany.

Munteanu will lead the newly merged entity under the SquareOne brand, with Michael Heyd serving as CFO/COO.

The newly combined SquareOne unit will boast a library of over 1,200 titles, including "Drive", "Pretty Best Friends", "Olympus Has Fallen", "Killer's Bodyguard", "The Imitation Game", "Lone Survivor", "Book Club", "Transporter 3", "King Richard", "Maurice the Cat" and the recently released "One Life" among others.

The newly expanded company will be active in both distribution and production. Munteanu said: "The combined entity will enable SquareOne to offer German-speaking audiences a strong and diverse range of cinema releases spanning multiple genres - from arthouse films, comedies and action films to quality family entertainment: 'The Last Breath', 'Lords of War', 'Hellboy', 'Broker Homefront 2' and 'Bambi' are the first titles to be launched."

Last year, SquareOne focussed on expanding its production activities under the SquareOne Productions banner with teams in Munich and London. These teams are active in local languages as well as international television and cinema films. The company is celebrating success with the German, Italian and French versions of "Your Honor", the Netflix and ORF co-production with Barry Films Totenfrau and the SF Studios co-production for TV2/ZDF "Ochsen", which is now entering its second season.

Vuelta Group's distribution group, Playtime, will work hand in hand with Telepool's international distribution arm, Global Screen, which distributes premium feature films and TV series. Global Screen's successes include animated hits such as "The Fantastic Maurice" and "Luis and the Aliens", dramas such as "The Collini Case", "The Conference" and "The School of Magical Animals". Current highlights include the Second World War drama "Stella - A Life" and the popular dog adventure "Lassie - A New Adventure".

As exclusively reported in Variety, Global Screen has joined horror western "The Trek" this week. This reflects a growing focus on genre content at Global Screen, which until now has been best known for its expertise in animation, family entertainment and prestige drama.

Global Screen ventures into more upmarket genre films with Sandra Hüller's nightmare thriller "Sleep", a debut film by Michael Venus in which the Oscar and BAFTA-nominated Hüller plays a woman plagued by terrible dreams that haunt an entire village.

Recently supervised genre titles also include "You're Not Me" (Tú No Eres Yo) by Goya-nominated producers Marisa Crespo and Moisés Romera, a Spanish-language satirical thriller that premiered at Fantastic Fest in Austin before having its international premiere at Imagine Film Festival Amsterdam.

Nicolas Brigaud Robert of Playtime said: "I am excited to see the unique positioning of Global Screen working with the expertise of the Playtime distribution group to cover a broader range of projects in the acquisition space and increase our collective impact on the market."

Playtime and its subsidiaries currently have seven films premiering at the Cannes Film Festival: "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" by Mohammad Rasoulof (Films Boutique) in the official selection in competition, both "The Marching Band" by Emmanuel Courcol and "Meeting with Pol Pot" by Rithy Panh in the Cannes Premiere (Playtime), "Black Dog" by Guan Hu in Un Certain Regard (Playtime), "Apprendre" by Claire Simon in the special screenings (Films Boutique), "Animale" by Emma Benestan in the Critics' Week (Film Constellation) and "Eephus" by Carson Lund in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Film Constellation).

Outside Germany, the Vuelta Group is present in Scandinavia with Scanbox, with recent successes such as "Past Lives", "Civil War" and the local romantic comedy "Rome"; in France with Playtime and Pan, who have just released "Un p'tit truc en plus", the biggest cinema release in France in 2024; in Italy with the producer Indiana Productions with "Confidenza", currently in cinemas, and the eagerly awaited "Il Gatopardo" and the Gianna Nannini biopic "Sei nell'Anima", which will be released on Netflix later this year.

Former CEO of Telepool, Yoko Higuchi-Zitzmann, said: "I am proud of everything we have achieved at Telepool. My sincere thanks go to my fantastic colleagues, our outstanding content partners and Westbrook, with whom I worked so productively. I wish the wonderful team of professionals and the new owners of Vuelta Group Germany nothing but the very best. I am confident that Telepool will continue to be in the best hands."

Ryan Ascencio, EVP of Corporate Development at Westbrook, added: "We are delighted to have found the right partner for Telepool in Vuelta Group and wish them all the best as they continue their vision to grow their new and dynamic media power. We are excited to continue our collaboration on our projects."

Levy said: "This latest acquisition by Vuelta Group is in line with our vision and strategy to create an integrated European studio with the ability to produce and distribute in multiple territories."

Munteanu added: "The integration of Telepool will strengthen our presence in Germany as an important player in all areas of distribution and production."

Levy concluded: "Germany is an important area in which we will continue to invest through co-productions and acquisitions."

Lazard acted as exclusive financial advisor to Westbrook and Telepool.

SquareOne Acquires Telepool From Westbrook (variety.com)