LONDON -- British Sky Broadcasting Group has bought Parthenon Media Group, an international distribution and multi-media rights management company, as part of a plan to establish a new distribution arm to market the international rights to its content.

The current Parthenon team, led by founder and CEO Carl Hall, will lead the operation, according to C21 Media, reporting to Sky’s MD of entertainment, news and broadcast operations Sophie Turner Laing.

Turner Laing said: “As we continue to increase investment in UK production, this is a natural step in the evolution of Sky’s content business.

“We are producing world-class television – innovative, creatively ambitious and, in many cases, on an epic scale. It’s only right that we match this with world-class aspirations for how we take this content to as wide an international audience as possible.”

Speculation has been rife for some time that Sky was eyeing up distribution companies, having invested so heavily in original content over the past 18 months.

Hall added: “This will open new and exciting opportunities for international producers looking to benefit from the support of one of the UK’s largest investors in original content and a global leader in the provision of world-class television.”