Leonine Holding GmbH, LLC, formerly Tele München Group, LLC (German: Tele München Gruppe; TMG), is a

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

company based in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

. The activities of Leonine include trade in

license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

s, investments in television and radio stations and distribution and production of

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

s and

movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

History

Tele München Group

The ''Tele München GmbH'' was founded on April 27, 1970, by author and producer Walter Ulbrich. It was purchased in 1977 by Herbert Kloiber and his business partner Fritz Buttenstedt. In 1980, the '' Concorde Filmverleih'' (Concorde film distribution) was founded and a year later, in 1981, the company acquired along with the cinema operator Hans-Joachim Flebbe several movie theaters in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

and

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

. TMG was partner at the television station Sat.1 in 1985; after a year, the company sold its shares and started the TV station ''musicbox''. In the same year, TMG took over the Munich private radio station ''Radio Xanadu'', which was later renamed to Radio Energy. In 1987,

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

’s company

Fininvest Finanziaria d'investimento Fininvest S.p.A., known as Fininvest S.p.A., is an Italian holding company controlled by the Berlusconi family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi. Structure The Fininvest group is c ...

acquired 50 percent of ''musicbox''. This was the basis for the channel

Tele 5 Tele 5 is a German free-to-air television channel that broadcasts classic American films, series, cartoons and Japanese anime. On 3 July 2020, Discovery, Inc. agreed to acquire the channel from Leonine Holding, completing the purchase on 1 ...

. In 1988, Axel Springer Publishing House and CLT became partner at TMG. In 1989, 50 percent from the company were sold to Capital Cities / ABC. 1991 TMG sold its shares in Tele 5 to the Axel Springer Publishing House and in 1992 founded, together with CLT,

Bertelsmann Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA () is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, and is also active in the service sector and ...

Bauer Media Group Heinrich Bauer Publishing (german: Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG), trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 r ...

and

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

, the TV channel

RTL II RTL Zwei (stylised as RTLZWEI), formerly spelled RTL 2 and RTL II, is a German-language television channel that is operated by ''RTL2 Television GmbH & Co. KG''. RTL2 is a private television broadcaster with a full program ''(Vollprogramm)'' ...

. In 1995, the television station Tm3 was founded by TMG and the Bauer Media Group. In 1996, Herbert Kloiber bought back the TMG shares from Capital Cities / ABC, and took over the shares of Bauer Media Group on Tm3. In 1997, TMG participated in the Hungarian private broadcaster TV2. In 1998,

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

's company

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...

took over 66 percent of Tm3 and two years later, in 2000, took over Tm3 completely. On 28 April 2002, the channel Tele 5 was restarted by TMG. TMG launched a streaming service, Filmtastic, in 2017.

Leonine Holdings

In February 2019,

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...

(KKR) agreed to purchase TMG, with expected closing in April 2019. At closing, Fred Kogel's appointment as CEO would be effective. KKR also agreed to purchase the Universum Film movie distributor from

RTL Group RTL Group (for "Radio Television Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate centre in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 68 television channels and 31 radio stations in Germany, France ...

days later, with the intent to combine the two companies. i&u TV was acquired by April 2019, when the expanded TMG acquired Wiedemann & Berg. Wiedemann & Berg would continue its TV arm, W&B Television, as a joint venture with Endemol Shine Group. Founders Max Wiedemann and Quirin Berg would continue as managing directors of Wiedemann & Berg while adding the position of head of the group's feature film production division. The enlarged Tele München Group was renamed Leonine Holdings in September 2019, with three main divisions: Distribution, Production, & Licensing. The distribution division, consisting of multiple Munich-based film distributors & a home video outlet, as well the company's stakes in RTL II & Tele 5, would be operating under the Leonine Distribution division name as of January 1, 2020. The production division, consisting of film & television production companies, would be grouped under the Leonine Production division, while continuing their separate identities. While under Leonine Distribution, RTL II, Tele 5, & the

subscription video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

services would continue under their current names. Leonine purchased Endemol Shine Group's share of Wiedemann & Berg Television.

Units

* Leonine Licensing

Leonine Distribution

* TM Distribution * TM International * Concorde (Munich) film company * Concorde Home Entertainment (Munich) * Universum Film movie distribution (former division of

UFA GmbH UFA GmbH, shortened to UFA (), is a film and television production company that unites all production activities of the media conglomerate Bertelsmann in Germany. Its name derives from Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft (normally abbreviated as ...

subsidiary of

)

Broadcasting

(Munich, 31.5%) Leonine Holding formerly owned

channel, which, since September 2020, is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Subscription video on demand channels

*Filmtastic *Home of Horror *Arthouse CNM

Leonine Production

* Clasart Film (Munich) * Clasart Television * Clasart Classic * Odeon Film (85.23%) ** Odeon Fiction - fictional content for television, cinema and streaming platforms ** Odeon Entertainment - reality entertainment, documentaries, and live broadcasts *i&u TV (April 2019—) *Mediawan & Leonine Studios (joint venture with Mediawan) **Drama Republic (51%) *SEO Entertainment *Wiedemann & Berg Film (April 2019—) ** W&B Television

Other interests

* Load Studios - digital media * Storied Media Group, media project development and packaging

References

External links

Official website

Leonine website
(English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonine Holdings Mass media companies of Germany Mass media in Munich Companies based in Munich Film production companies of Germany Mass media companies established in 1970 1970 establishments in West Germany Kohlberg Kravis Roberts companies 2019 mergers and acquisitions German companies established in 1970