Bell Media has acquired a minority stake in Montreal-headquartered media company Sphere.

The deal was closed on March 17, a spokesperson for Bell Media confirmed to Playback Daily, adding that the investment will “support Bell Media’s ongoing commitment to producing Quebec and Canadian content.” Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sphere is led by CEO Bruno Dubé and has multiple divisions, including scripted and unscripted banner Sphere Media, which is the producer behind award-winning English-language series such as CTV’s Transplant (pictured) and CBC’s Sort Of and The Porter.

Sphere Media’s French-language series include Noovo’s Aller simple, Club illico’s IXE-13, and Ici.Tou.TV’s Cerebrum.

The division is an amalgamation of its subsidiaries Sienna Films, BGM and Go Films.

Sphere recently formed a kids content division, led by Marlo Miazga, which consolidated its scripted, unscripted and animation teams under Sphere Kids and Family.

Another of its divisions is Sphere Films, which was formed when the company acquired distributor MK2 | Mile End and merged it with its sales outfit WaZabi Films.

Sphere did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.

Bell Media parentco Bell Canada recently sold its majority stake in Pinewood Toronto Studios to U.K.-based Pinewood Group, stating in its Q1 financial results that the sale would help fund the acquisition of IT company FX Innovation, which is based in Montreal.

Aircraft Pictures, another Canadian indie outfit, sold a majority stake to Canadian broadcaster Corus Entertainment back in 2022.

Image courtesy of Bell Media