ITV Studios has bought A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder producer Moonage Pictures.

The ITV production-distribution arm has taken a majority stake in Will Gould, Matthew Read and Frith Tiplady’s drama outfit, which also co-produced The Gentlemen and Netflix’s The Leopard. International distribution of new Moonage Pictures shows will be handled by ITV Studios.

Deadline had revealed several months back that Moonage was on the sales block. BBC Studios previously had a minority interest in the company, which it took upon launch in 2018. There was understood to have been plenty of interest in Moonage and the sale had generated chatter in UK TV M&A and production circles. Turnover and post-tax profits soared last year to £89M ($115M) and £6.8M respectively, according to Moonage’s latest Companies House filing.

Moonage is currently working on second seasons of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, The Gentlemen and Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Famous Five adaptation.

ITV Studios MD Julian Bellamy said: “Will, Matthew and Frith have built a formidable scripted production company with a very strong slate of first class shows ranging from The Gentlemen to A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder. They’re an incredibly talented team and we feel incredibly fortunate they’re joining ITV Studios.”

Tiplady added: “We’ve loved every minute of the past seven years — collaborating with exceptional writers, directors, and production teams to create work we’re immensely proud of. It’s been a real adventure. Now, as Moonage enters its next chapter, we’re thrilled to be joining forces with ITV Studios.”

ITV Studios had been rumored to be heavily interested in Moonage and the outfit has been acquisitive of late, also buying Eagle Eye Drama and Sherlock producer Hartswood Films in the past 12 months. Rumors abound that ITV Studios could itself soon be sold to RedBird IMI and merged with The Traitors maker All3Media.