The boss of STV has said the Scottish television group is within "striking distance" of becoming the UK's biggest regional production company following a £24m deal to take over Greenbird Media.

Chief executive Simon Pitts told The Herald that STV Studios will leapfrog Cardiff's Bad Wolf to become the second-largest independent production outfit outside London and the south-east of England with revenues of at least £70m. Including minority shareholdings, STV Studios will be close to reaching par with Hollyoaks producer Lime Pictures of Liverpool with annual turnover of approximately £110m.

"If you look at all of our revenues across the unconsolidated minority companies we've invested in, we'd be north of £100m in 2023, so we are now we think within striking distance of becoming the number one nations and regions producer," he said.

Greenbird has a network of 15 independent production companies and will boost the number of labels within STV Studios from nine to 24. As a result of the acquisition, the group will expand its existing production bases in Glasgow and London while also adding offices in Cardiff, Belfast, Brighton and Manchester.

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Founded in 2012 by Jamie Munro and Stuart Mullin, Greenbird was initially backed by BBC Worldwide. Israeli media firm Keshet, the company responsible for transporting Homeland to the US market, acquired a majority stake in Greenbird in 2018.

Greenbird specialises in "unscripted" production - entertainment and factual shows, rather than drama. Some of the shows from its producers include: LEGO Masters by Tuesday’s Child for Channel 4/FOX; The Hit List by Tuesday’s Child for BBC One; the BAFTA-winning Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan by Rumpus Media for BBC Two; and Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing by Owl Power for BBC Two.

Mr Munro and Mr Mullin, will join the STV Studios board in the roles of chief commercial officer and finance & integration director respectively, said they were "delighted" to be working with the Glasgow-based group: "We look forward to a future together helping a wider network of creatives realise their ambitions.”