The country’s oldest film studio has been acquired by a group led by Joe Devine, a co-founder of Irish investment company Ion Equity.

The Olcott acquisition said it has completed the acquisition of Ardmore Studios in Bray, Co. Wicklow, where movies and TV including Braveheart; My left Foot; Excalibur and Moone Boy have all been shot.

Olcott plans to retain Ardmore as a studio, with employees and CEO Siún Ní Raghallaigh remain with the company.

Established in 1958, Ardmore is the only studio in Ireland to offer seven international standard sound stages with full support facilities on site. The studio is currently home to a number of productions including US TV series Into the Badlands, RTE’s Dancing with the Stars.

Joe Devine said that he was delighted to have successfully concluded the acquisition of Ardmore Studios; "Our interest in the sector is against a backdrop of significant global demand for content and thus for production facilities."

"The drive for more content is fuelled by "big screen" film, increasingly "on demand TV" and the gaming industry. When coupled with Ireland having one of the more attractive incentive schemes in the world, it makes Ardmore an attractive asset. We have ambitious plans for the business and believe this heralds a new era for these historic studios."

Online Editors