REACH

2 November 2021

ZOO DIGITAL GROUP PLC

("ZOO", the "Group" or the "Company")

ZOO Digital expands its MENA operations with the launch of ZOO Turkey

ZOO Digital Group plc (AIM: ZOO), the leading provider of end-to-end cloud-based localisation and media services to the global entertainment industry, today announces the first phase in its global growth strategy with the launch of ZOO Turkey. The Company has completed a strategic investment in Istanbul-based media localisation company ARES Media to grow ZOO's services for Turkish content. ZOO Turkey will provide major content creators and global streaming services with an enhanced offering in the MENA region and enable ZOO to secure new talent across its key markets.

Founded in 2000, ARES Media provides services to support the distribution of international TV shows and award-winning feature films, offering dubbing, subtitling, foley, access, and post-production services. ARES Media is now one of Turkey's leading media localisation companies and has been an operational partner to ZOO since 2017, delivering high-quality services to ZOO clients using the Company's cloud-based technology ecosystem. 

The investment fits into ZOO's stated strategy to expand its in-territory expertise across Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia in order to meet growing demand from leading global content providers. The trend of acquiring local Turkish content for distribution on global streaming services is not slowing down and ZOO Turkey will enable the business to access local talent and facilities in the region, as well as provide greater capacity to handle higher volumes of work at a faster rate, and access competitive pricing in all key languages.

Stuart Green, CEO of ZOO Digital, said:

"The launch of ZOO Turkey marks the first of several strategic investments to grow our global footprint in key territories. We have worked with ARES for some time to deliver high-quality Turkish language services to our clients and the launch of ZOO Turkey cements our ability to do this at a time of significant growth in the region. By acting as a regional hub for our MENA operations, ZOO Turkey will provide access to in-territory expertise and open doors to new opportunities in the region.

"We are excited to officially welcome ARES Media to the ZOO Digital Group and look forward to continuing to deliver quality services to our clients in this key market."

Ender Albayrak, President, ZOO Turkey, ARES Media, added:

"We are proud to officially become part of the global ZOO family. Our two companies have worked successfully together for a number of years and now ZOO Turkey can bring even more technology-backed services to clients, both in MENA and globally."

About ZOO Digital Group plc:

ZOO Digital supports major Hollywood studios and streaming services to globalise their content and reach audiences everywhere, by providing world-leading, technology-enabled localisation and media services.

Founded in 2001, ZOO Digital operates from hubs in Los Angeles, London and Dubai, with a development and production centre in Sheffield, UK. The company is targeting $100m sales in the medium term.

The Group provides media services through its platforms that include: ZOOsubs, ZOOdubs, ZOOstudio. Its full-service proposition delivers the end-to-end services required to prepare both original and catalogue content for digital distribution; these services include dubbing, subtitling & captioning, metadata creation & localisation, artwork localisation and media processing. Alongside this offering, ZOO also provides its customers with management platforms and strategic solutions to support their own internal globalisation operations.

ZOO is a go-to service partner for media businesses looking to globalise their content across different territories, languages and distribution platforms. Using its innovative technology-enabled approach, ZOO helps its customers to reduce time to market, lower costs and deliver high quality products to their global audiences. The business has frameworks in place with all major Hollywood studios and streaming services. Its customers include Disney, NBCUniversal, HBO and ViacomCBS.

ZOO's competitive advantage arises from three interlinking factors - the leading role it has played in the digital transformation of its sector; the world class proprietary platforms that it develops to enable this transformation; and the global supply chain of thousands of freelancers, working collaboratively in ZOO's platforms, which delivers services that scale easily to meet demand. These factors combine to make ZOO uniquely geared to capitalise on new market opportunities in a fast-paced and constantly evolving industry.