Peace Arch Entertainment has bought Dufferin Gate Productions for $6 million, closing a deal that will see the landmark Toronto service house rebranded as Peace Arch Studios.

‘It’s a good fit for our company,’ Dufferin Gate president John Weber tells Playback Daily, adding that Peace Arch will be able to drive some business through his production facility, which has experienced a lull in business.

‘We haven’t been that busy. We’re a service company with a 92-cent dollar, which is a bit of a challenging environment,’ he says. The agreement becomes official in the summer, though an exact date has not been set, says Weber. Staffing changes are not expected.

The deal gives Peace Arch access to Dufferin Gate’s 72,000-square-foot building in Toronto’s west end, with state-of-the-art production and post-production facilities. Weber bought controlling interest in Dufferin from chairman Patrick Whitley in 2006.

‘This facility will continue to offer to international productions a fully integrated base of operations in Canada, and give Peace Arch a fantastic opportunity to increase efficiencies and reduce costs on our own busy production schedule,’ said Peace Arch CEO Gary Howsam in a release.

Weber, who will continue to oversee the day-to-day operations of Peach Arch Studios as president, was also named EVP of production and will report to Lewin Webb, the Toronto-based company’s head of production. Peach Arch also has offices in Vancouver, Los Angeles and New York.

The prodcos have enjoyed a successful working relationship over the past three years, collaborating on TV projects including the MOW Our Fathers and the Irish-Canadian copro The Tudors, both for Showtime. The Tudors, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as King Henry VIII, will air on CBC in the fall and has also been sold to the BBC.