European special-purposed acquisition company Mediawan has entered into exclusive talks to acquire a majority stake in French production company ON kids & family.

The agreement would see Mediawan scoop up a portion of the company’s shares, while simultaneously subscribing to a reserved capital increase to take a majority stake of between 51% and 55% in ON kids & family.

The deal, estimated by Variety to be in the US$117 million range, would see Mediawan acquire shares held by minority shareholders for approximately US$35 to US$41 million and inject a US$17-million capital increase into ON kids & family.

Mediawan was formed by Pierre-Antoine Capton, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse. According to Capton, this move will accelerate the company’s development strategy in the production of premium content.

ON kids & family was co-founded by Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam. The animation studio’s work can be seen in The Little Prince, Miraculous, Little Nick and Seven & me. Under the proposed agreement, Soumache and Rassam, along with ON kids & family’s main shareholders, will partner with Mediawan. Soumache will continue to manage the company as CEO.

The Little Prince was released in more than 120 countries in 2015 and 2016, with a box office return of US$120 million. ON kids & fmaily is comprised of five studios (in Paris, Montreal, Luxembourg, L.A. and India) and through its ON Animation Studios entity, the company is currently producing a Playmobil animated film due for global release in April 2019.

Earlier this year, Mediawan acquired French production, channels and distribution player Groupe AB, as well as French production company CC&C, which is a key player in the documentary segment.