Case Study – Successful sale of award winning TV production company, betty, to Discovery Communications

Their Challenge

betty is the UK’s leading producer of high quality, modern, factual TV. They create popular series such as Country House Rescue, Freaky Eaters and The Joy of Teen Sex.

Liz Warner, betty CEO, came to us for advice. While the investor presentation told the betty story beautifully, the last thing Liz wanted was ‘to turn the pages’ in front of prospective buyers.

“I’m a creative, we don’t know how to talk to suits – and I hate PowerPoint.” We helped the management team tell their great story and feel confident with the financial information they had to get across to potential buyers.

Our Solution

We worked with the senior team to draw out the most powerful way to talk about betty. Building on their ability to pitch creative ideas brilliantly – they transformed the betty company story into a compelling narrative.

And we coaxed these TV people to get in front of the camera for a change, so that they could see the mistakes they were making in their pitch.

We also introduced a series of novel ideas. What at first seemed like a daunting 2 hour financial presentation turned into a lively engaging meeting punctuated with videos, clever visual aids and mood boards –all props with which they felt comfortable.

The Result

All the potential buyers said the presentation was very impressive and clearly mirrored the quality of betty.

Five months after their first buyer meeting, Liz and her team had 4 great offers to choose from.

The day before betty’s 10th birthday, they closed a world-first deal with Discovery Communications. This was the first independent producer that Discovery had ever bought.

“Ben and his colleagues gave us a sense of confidence to sell ourselves and our business.

“We are used to selling ideas, but when it came to selling ourselves it was much harder.

“BBA gave us constructive feedback. Their advice completely changed our pitch.

“He and his team moved our presentation into a different league and undoubtedly improved the outcome and offer we secured.” Liz Warner CEO betty