21 August 2017

Essel Group ME expands into new technologies with acquisition of boo.lab

Essel Group ME is pleased to announce that its media and production subsidiary, Essel Media Hub, has acquired boo.lab, a leading Spanish production company specialising in audiovisual and experiential media. The acquisition expands Essel Media Hub's media and production capabilities, adding ground-breaking technologies to its portfolio.

Established in 2001 and based in Barcelona, boo.lab has built a ground-breaking portfolio of the most complex technologies used in media production today. Its IT engineers use cutting-edge techniques, such as Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality (merging the real and the virtual), live action and 4D to bring the ideas of its design teams to life.

boo.lab has created immersive media campaigns for some of the world's leading brands including Coca Cola, Mercedes - Benz, Ford, Heinekin, Lexus, Samsung, Adidas, McDonald's, IKEA, Peugeot, Playstation, Slamdance Festival and JVC, along with promos for NBA & famous TV shows such as 'Lost.' It is internationally recognised as an innovation leader and has won some of the industry's most coveted accolades, including gold and silver awards from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Prague International Advertising Festival, and the Grand Prix of Design from FIAP. It has also been listed amongst the 20 best companies in the world according to Motiongrapher, the main international journalistic press medium on contemporary animation and production, for 5 years in a row.

Essel Group ME acquired Essel Serena from Spanish media and production company Serena Digital in June 2017, to gain entry into the region's fast-growing and vibrant media and production industry. The Group is building a diversified portfolio of world-class assets across EMEA and is actively seeking out attractive growth opportunities.

Established in 2012 by Serena - the most advanced post-production studio in Spain - Essel Serena is renowned for its creative talent, Art Directors and visual effects skills. Its clients include some of the biggest names in the industry, such as Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Coca Cola, Unilever, Vodafone and Etisalat amongst other multinational consumer goods companies.

Gagan Goel, Managing Director, Essel Group ME said, "boo.lab's technical expertise perfectly complements Essel Serena's existing offering. This acquisition cements Essel Media Hub's leading position in the Middle East and internationally, and we are looking forward to supporting the company during its expansion."

Walid Saad, Manager, Essel Serena said, "All of us at Essel Serena are excited to work with a media and production house that has such an outstanding reputation for innovation. We welcome boo.lab's visionary creative teams and high-performing technical engineers to our team - we can't wait to get started!"

-ENDS-

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About Essel Group ME

Essel Group ME ("EGME") operates subsidiary businesses in the natural resources, nuclear energy, financial services, industrial supply and logistics, and education sectors. Its natural resources portfolio includes oil and gas, potash and iron ore assets. EGME pursues growth through the acquisition of underdeveloped assets at competitive valuations. Currently, its anchor assets are located across Africa, where there is significant potential and a competitive cost environment.

EGME is a part of Essel Group, the Indian multinational conglomerate operating in a broad spectrum of industries including media, packaging, infrastructure and technology. Building on Essel Group's 90 year history of developing and promoting businesses, EGME is leading the expansion of the Group's presence in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

For further information, please visit www.esselgroupme.com.