Chorion (company)

In 1994, the Burford Group purchased the London Trocadero entertainment complex in Piccadilly Circus, London for £94 million[6] Nick Leslau and Nigel Wray, the operators of the complex, branched off on their own and separated the Trocadero's operations as a stand-alone company in 1995, called Trocadero PLC.

In January 1996, Trocadero PLC acquired Darrell Waters Ltd., the holding company for the estate of children's author Enid Blyton for £14.6 million. They soon formed a new subsidiary - Enid Blyton Ltd. to handle all intellectual properties, character brands, and media in Blyton's works. However, with this addition for the complex, alongside a major tenant in the form of SegaWorld London, the company still failed to attract visitors. In 1997, John Conlan and Nick Tamblyn took over as the company's operators and re-structured Trocadero to focus on acquiring other intellectual properties and nightlife venues.

On 4 April 1998, Trocadero PLC was renamed as Chorion PLC, and under its new structure, both divisions of the company had expanded. The Bars & Nightclubs division acquired the London-based Oxygen, Zoo Bar/Venom, and Bar Madrid Nightclubs from Luminar PLC[7] With their first nightclubs under their ownership, Chorion opened Tiger Tiger nightclub on London's Haymarket in late 1998. Tiger Tiger was the flagship of the company's nightclubs, with additional venues planned from 1999 onwards.[8]

For Chorion's IP division, the company's first step into becoming the media production company it ultimately became came in June 1998, when Chorion acquired the rights to the Agatha Christie literary estate,[9] with a vision of reviving the crime brand through new TV production and exporting the property to the United States, and soon afterward purchased the literary estate of Georges Simenon.

Despite the success of these nightclubs, it became increasingly clear that Chorion's business was made up of two very different divisions: a media production and rights ownership division, and an entertainment venue division. Analysts frequently cautioned that the company would not unlock its full value until these two businesses were demerged.[10][11]

In February 2000, Chorion sold its ownership of the loss-making Trocadero Centre back to its previous owner, Burford Holdings. Later that year, in May 2000, the management announced during an Annual General Meeting their intention to demerge the nightclub and venue business from the media business.[12]

In March 2001, the split of the entertainment division was delayed.[13] By April 2001, Chorion's nightclub and venue division included nine London-based clubs, and three Tiger Tiger venues in London, Manchester and Bermingham, with additional branches in Portsmouth, Croydon and Leeds following on later in the year.[14] and continued to purchase more venues.[15]

On 17 May 2002, Chorion officially demerged it's nightclub and venue division as a separately-operated public company named Urbium PLC.[16][17] New Chorion PLC, which was formed to take over the IP division, effectively became the new Chorion PLC and was renamed as such within the same month.[18] With the company focused solely on media production, Chorion began a period of expansion driven by the acquisition of new literary properties and the development of new TV and film properties to unlock their value. The first steps in this new direction included a series of management changes that placed experienced executives from the world of television at the helm of the company. At the end of the month, the company purchased the literacy estate of Nicolas Freeling.[19]

On 4 December 2002, Chief Executive Nick Tamblyn announced his immediate resignation.[20] Waheed Alli joined the company as a Non-Executive Deputy Chairman.[21] Just a few months later, in April 2003, he stepped up to the position of Chairman.[22] The company put up it's children's assets for sale in November 2002[23] but ultimately decided to keep them.

During this period, Chorion produced several new TV productions. In May 2002, the UK's Channel Five announced that it had bought 100 episodes of a new CGI-animated TV series based on Enid Blyton's Noddy,[24] with the show Make Way For Noddy airing in September of that year.[25] In November 2002, the company announced a four-year deal with major UK television network ITV to produce a few feature-length TV dramas based on the Agatha Christie novels.[26] These began to broadcast on-air at the end of 2003.[27] During this period, development and production also began on an animated cartoon series based on The Famous Five[28] in collaboration with Disney Channel in France.[29] The range of newly developed TV shows began to expand internationally, with Noddy becoming the most recognised children's character in France in 2003 and sold to Chinese publishers in 2004,[30] and airing in the United States on PBS Kids in 2005.[31]

As well as the commission and launch of several new TV productions, the period immediately following Waheed Alli's elevation to the Chairmanship was marked by a series of high-profile acquisitions of new properties. In April 2004, after several months of negotiations,[32] Chorion acquired the distribution rights to the Roger Hargreaves Mr. Men series for £28 million.[33] This acquisition was followed up in May 2005 with total ownership of the Hargreaves estate and the rights to produce new TV series.

In July 2005, Chorion made a major step towards becoming an international business when it bought UK-based[34] Silver Lining Productions.[35] Along with an office in New York City,[36] this acquisition gave Chorion ownership of the media and merchandise rights to The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, Olivia by Ian Falconer, and Max & Ruby and Timothy Goes To School, both by Rosemary Wells.

In early 2006, Alli led a management buyout of the company[37] backed by private equity firm 3i Group Plc.[38] In May 2006, this process was completed when Chorion delisted from the AIM exchange to become a private limited company.[39][40]

Peter Rabbit, (1901). Chorion developed a TV series based on the book, in collaboration with Nickelodeon in the US

Waheed Alli served as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman, and pursued a strategy of developing and launching one new children's property every year.[41] This development strategy included the launch of a new series of Noddy in 2007, an animated version of the Mr. Men in 2008, the US launch of Olivia in 2009, the UK launch of The Octonauts in 2010, Gaspard and Lisa in 2011 and a new CGI-animated version of Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit in 2012. This production was a joint venture with US broadcaster Nickelodeon and British publisher Frederick Warne & Co, part of the Penguin Group.

The launch of The Octonauts represented a big hit for the company, achieving on-air ratings for the show as number one in the key demographic of boys aged 4 to 6.[42] Chorion announced in 2010 that they had signed international toy makers Fisher Price as the master toy partner for the brand, with a full toy line launching in the UK in August 2011.[43]

The development of a new series of Peter Rabbit was made possible by Chorion's acquisition in November 2007 of the Copyrights Group, a competing intellectual property management company who managed the licensing and merchandising rights to the Beatrix Potter series, owned by Frederick Warne, part of the Penguin Group. The company also owned the rights to Paddington Bear, and managed Spot the Dog by Eric Hill, The Snowman by Raymond Briggs, and The Horrible Histories book series.

On 24 August 2011, Chairman and CEO Waheed Alli along with Deputy Chairman William Astor announced to the company that they would be resigning their positions[44] following the failure of the company's lenders to reach an agreement to restructure Chorion's debt burdens.[45] Shortly thereafter, private equity owners 3i began a process to sell Chorion's assets:

• 22 September 2011 - The Octonauts franchise and the estate of Beatrix Potter were purchased by Waheed Alli, under his new children's entertainment company Silvergate Media, which he founded after leaving Chorion.[46]
• October 2011 - Nicholas Durbridge and Linda Pooley re-acquired The Copyrights Group.[47] The company was ultimately acquired by StudioCanal in June 2016.[48]
• 6 December 2011 - Sanrio purchased THOIP and Mister Men Limited, the holding companies for the Mr. Men and Little Miss brands as well as it's associated merchandise business, and placed them under a new UK-based subsidiary - Sanrio Global Limited.[49]
• 29 February 2012 - Acorn Media Group purchased Agatha Christie Limited, the holding company for the Agatha Christie estate.[50]
• 7 March 2012 - Classic Media purchased the Noddy and Olivia properties.[51][52] Later on in the year, DreamWorks Animation would purchase Classic Media, who ultimately were purchased by NBCUniversal in 2016.
• 15 March 2012 - The Rights House and PFD purchased the estates of Dennis Wheatley, Margery Allingham, Nicolas Freeling and Edmund Crispin.[53]
• 26 March 2012 - Hachette UK purchased the Enid Blyton estate, except for Noddy.[54]
• 30 March 2012 - Nelvana (who already produced the respective television series of the same name) purchased a stake in the Max & Ruby franchise (with Rosemary Wells retaining the other half), including worldwide licensing rights.[55]

• Gaspard and Lisa
• Spot the Dog
• The Snowman
• The Story of Tracy Beaker
• Maisy Mouse
• Horrible Histories
• Flower Fairies

• The Works of Raymond Chandler including Philip Marlowe
• The Works of Georges Simenon including Inspector Maigret

• Peter Rabbit and The World of Beatrix Potter (sold to Silvergate Media, now Sony Pictures Television Kids)
• Paddington Bear (now owned by StudioCanal)
• Mr. Men (sold to Sanrio)
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The World of Eric Carle (now owned by Penguin Random House)
• Octonauts (sold to Silvergate Media, now Sony Pictures Television Kids)
• Olivia (Sold to Classic Media (Later owned by DreamWorks Animation and NBCUniversal))
• The Works of Enid Blyton (sold to Hachette UK, except Noddy)
  • Noddy (Sold to Classic Media (Later owned by DreamWorks Animation and NBCUniversal))
  • Malory Towers
  • The Famous Five
  • The Secret Seven
  • Five Find-Outers
• The Works of Rosemary Wells (sold to Nelvana)
  • Max & Ruby
  • Timothy Goes To School

• The Works of Agatha Christie including Poirot and Miss Marple (sold to Acorn Media Group)
• The Works of Margery Allingham (sold to The Rights House and PFD)
• The Works of Edmund Crispin (sold to The Rights House and PFD)
• The Works of Nicolas Freeling (sold to The Rights House and PFD)
• The Works of Dennis Wheatley (sold to The Rights House and PFD)