Canada’s Boat Rocker completes £4.4m Insight Productions acquisition

Canadian media company Boat Rocker Media has taken full ownership of Insight Productions after acquiring the remaining 30% of the company it did not already own.

Boat Rocker paid C$7.95m (£4.4m) for the outstanding shares in The Amazing Race Canada production firm, which were majority held by Insight’s chairperson and chief executive, John Brunton.

Completion of the deal, which was announced in August, comes six years since Boat Rocker purchased its majority 70% ownership stake in the Toronto-based company.

Brunton will continue to lead Insight, which was founded in 1979 and is behind shows including Big Brother Canada, Top Chef Canada and Canada’s Ultimate Challenge.

John Young, chief executive officer at Boat Rocker, said the deal would allow his company “to continue to lean into high-profile service work, grow its stable of clients in Canada and the US, and produce premium content, while continuing to operate debt-free with a strong balance sheet.”

Brunton added: “[Boat Rocker] have been a wonderful long-standing partner and we’re looking forward to continue working alongside their team in this new capacity to produce award-winning content for global audiences.”

Boat Rocker produces across all genres, with projects including Invasion and Palm Royale for Apple TV+, The Next Step for the BBC, Corus and CBC, and American Rust: Broken Justice for Prime Video.