Bolstering its presence in the u.k. and further solidifying its place in the documentary arena, AAC Fact is the new and proud owner of internationally renowned factual producer Cafe Productions.

In early October, aac saved the London, Eng.-based producer from folding with a cash infusion that would pave the way for an ultimate takeover.

Under the terms of the deal, Cafe, will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of aac, providing the Canadian media giant with an important strategic beachhead in the European television market.

For the past eight years, Cafe has stood as a pillar of documentary coproduction, but in September when financing for a couple of key projects fell through, the company announced it was in serious financial trouble. Enter aac.

After four months of due diligence and ironing out details, the takeover deal has been inked, and as a partial result, aac expects its total non-fiction output for fiscal 2002 to increase from the 85 hours produced in 2001.

"Cafe Productions has the expertise and a network of key relationships to be a tremendous asset for Alliance Atlantis and specifically AAC Fact," says Andy Thomson, exec vp, television production at AAC Fact, who has had a longstanding relationship with the doc producer through the former Great North Communications (purchased by aac last summer).

AAC Fact and Cafe also both have strong ties to Discovery Channel (u.s.), which is one of the reasons aac was so quick to jump to Cafe’s aid months earlier. "We wanted to be good citizens to Discovery," said Ted Riley, president of Alliance Atlantis distribution, at the time.

Andre Singer, Cafe’s founder and acclaimed producer, will continue to manage all of the company’s operations as its ceo. "We expect to expand output to reach between 50 and 75 hours of original factual productions or coproductions in the coming year," he says.

Steve Seidenberg, Cafe’s director of development, and Pat Footer, director of production, will also remain.

Joining the team will be Jane Beaubien in the position of managing director. Formerly with ctv, Beaubien will relocate to London to oversee Cafe’s development and production activities. *

-www.allianceatlantis.com