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A Contracorriente Films, the film distributor and production company founded in Barcelona in 2009 and which has accumulated more than 20 million spectators, has decided to expand its business with the recent acquisition of SelectaVision. The latter is a Barcelona company founded in 1984 and a pioneer in the distribution of anime audiovisual content mainly in Spain and Portugal, as well as the creator and producer of television programs for which it has been awarded by the main entertainment entities in Spain (Ondas Award, TP Awards, TAC Awards, etc.).

The acquisition of SelectaVision by A Contracorriente Films, which also owns the well-known cinema Verdi in Barcelona, aims to consolidate the latter as a national reference of the sector and thus expand its catalog to 2,500 films and 4,000 series episodes. In addition, it should be noted that SelectaVision has SelectPlay, a seal for the creation and distribution of video games internationally, which allows the purchasing company to access a new business segment. This has been emphasized by Adolfo Blanco, founder and president of the Board of A Contracorriente Films, in an article for the newspaper “El Economista” by stating that "We are excited to welcome the entire Selecta Visión team to our company. This acquisition allows us not only to expand our extensive catalog of films and series, but also to delve into the exciting world of anime and video games, sectors with enormous growth potential, especially among young audiences." Despite the union between both companies, they will work autonomously, maintaining their personality and targeting their works to their target audience. In that sense, Adolfo Blanco, founder and president of the Board of A Contracorriente Films, will continue leading the project and Jorge Gabarró, founder and the top responsible of SelectaVision, will continue as the executive president and will also join the Administration board of A Contracorriente Films by maintaining a participatory position in the resulting group. 

The purchase operation comes after several years of active search by A Contracorriente Films to become a pan-European independent film distribution group, operating outside the frame of large international groups, such as Paramount or Universal. The acquisition has been carried out thanks to Suma Capital, a venture capital firm that owns 40% of the shares of A Contracorriente Films since 2021 and which has played a decisive role in the analysis and execution of the acquisition agreement. The purchasing company had a turnover of 27 million euros in 2023 and with the new acquisition, through which it intends to enter the world of video games through SelectPlay, it plans to exceed 40 million in turnover in 2024 by SelectaVision contributing with a turnover of 13 million euros. This increase in the turnover is due to its good positioning all along the value chain, based on the long-term commercialisation of its titles through the cinema, television channels, Home Video, streaming platforms and videogames, among others. Moreover, it is important to highlight that both companies, A Contracorriente Films and SelectVision, have a strong digital positioning by collaborating with the main digital platforms as well as managing their own OTT (acontra+ and AnimeBox) - the abbreviation for over-the-top, and which designates the available contents through an Internet connexion with the Internet having no control over them being Netflix or amazon Prime the most known OTT suppliers.

Source: https://www.eleconomista.es/medios-comunicacion/noticias/12891168/07/24/a-contracorriente-films-adquiere-selecta-vision-para-crecer-en-contenido-audiovisual-anime.html