Media Tech SPAC PLC has agreed to acquire Drylab, a film and TV production software platform that is a market leader in Scandinavia.
With detailed due diligence concluded, the shell company said it has entered into a definitive agreement to complete the acquisition of 100% of Drylab’s shares, with the acquisition expected to complete in the coming weeks.
Once complete, the combined businesses will be renamed Drylab Media Tech plc, with the Norwegian company’s co-founders, John Christian Rosenlund, Audun Vaaler and Stein Kvae, remaining in the merged business.
Used in more than 90% of productions in Norway and Sweden, Drylab’s platform has been used on-set by the likes of Netflix, HBO, Paramount and the BBC, with productions also including George Clooney’s Catch-22 and the 2022 Oscar-nominated film The Worst Person in the World.
Media Tech chief executive John Mahtani, who will remain in the CEO role at the combined business, worked for over two decades at Warner Bros before co-founding film lab Cinelab London and then co-founding Media Tech, while his fellow co-founder Rick Senat, who spent 25 years at Warner on the film production and distribution side, will be non-executive chairman.
Media Tech said its board's big studios experience, which also encompasses Universal and Paramount, will help position the enlarged business for growth through expanding the Drylab platform into the global marketplace.
The directors believe Drylab has an edge over its competitors by being the only platform that combines both an on-set production tool and digital dailies platform, part of a wider tech suite that is designed to help improve efficiency for an industry that is still primarily paper based.
“We are pleased to have come to this agreement with Drylab. John, Audun and Stein have built a world-beating production platform that I wish we had in our early days. The efficiency gains by using such a digital platform would have made our lives easier,” said Mahtani.
He added: “We hope to use our network to access markets Drylab haven’t been able to and look forward to reporting on our progress in due course.”