London – NBCUniversal International has announced the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in international children’s channel KidsCo, in partnership with existing shareholder and content supplier Corus Entertainment, who also increased its equity in the channel to 43.8 percent.  

Cookie Jar will exit the joint venture after five years in order to expand and develop their business outside the KidsCo partnership, prompting NBCUniversal and Corus Entertainment to acquire Cookie Jar Entertainment’s minority stake.  

Cookie Jar has entered into a new multi-year content licensing agreement to provide high-quality children’s programming for KidsCo’s channels worldwide, thereby assuring KidsCo’s existing programming schedules.

The newly configured KidsCo will be led by Hendrik McDermott as Managing Director, having served as interim MD since November 2011. 

“We see a very bright future for children’s television internationally and believe our highly valued partnership with Corus well positions KidsCo to compete strongly in this market. Hendrik will provide clear operational leadership and will be focused on implementing innovative strategic and technical opportunities to grow the content and distribution base of the company,” said Kevin MacLellan, President, International Television, NBCUniversal.